You Stole the Rain
by HawkofNavarre
Summary: He just wanted to be friends; fine, she just needed to change his mind. Gray x Juvia
1. Clear Skies

**Disclaimer: **I not own Fairy Tail. I drawz uglies.

**About the story: **An **_ eventual_** romance. This is the interlude/companion story to my NaLu story _Possession_. It is, however, not necessary to read that one in order to understand this story. Of course, if you're in need of a NaLu fix, you should definitely check it out. _Limits_ is the GaLe companion fic in this series, so _You Stole the Rain_ has heavy ties to it.

**Rated T:** For language and suggestive themes. If you're not 14 or older, your clean minds may be corrupted. This story is also _full_ of guilty pleasures. You have been warned.

**Genres: **ROMANCE, humour (if you have the same strange sense of humour as me), drama/angst maybe.

**Pairings:** GRAY x JUVIA, but you may also see Natsu x Lucy and Gajeel x Levy.

**Author's Note:** This started off as a one-shot, but I just had to keep going. I can't promise regular updates because _Possession_ is still my top priority, but hey, enjoy what you have!

Feedback and constructive criticism (except for spelling errors unless they really bother you) is always very much appreciated and valued. Thanks!

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain <strong>_by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 1 – _Clear Skies_**

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><p>It was difficult to completely discern what a normal day in Fairy Tail was like. Fights were as common as eating, but a peaceful and serene setting was equally as possible in said guild.<p>

So what qualified as a normal day?

Gray supposed today would be one. The morning had been very quiet although Natsu was there as well. Neither of the guys had really felt like picking a fight today—in fact, the dragon slayer seemed kind of…_off_ for some reason. Eh. It saved him some effort for now; somebody else could start the brawl.

He yawned as he sat at an empty table, casually removing his shirt. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Juvia. She was standing behind a wall, peeking at him shyly like she sometimes did (not quite as often as before though). He really didn't get that girl. For one thing, she _stalked _him even though they were guild mates. The ice mage didn't really think it was necessary for her to go to such extreme measures just to…admire him. What was so admirable about him anyway? Sure, he was pretty badass, but that hardly warranted her constantly shadowing him.

Another thing was that despite her stalking him, she was his _friend._ Who had ever heard of being friends with one's own stalker anyway? It didn't really make much sense; she was unreasonably timid around him a lot of the time, like right now when she chose not to approach him, but other times they could sit together and have a conversation about random stuff so easily. Man, he'd taught her how to eat a _sandwich_ properly! How normal could things possibly get?

So that brought Gray to the third and final most confusing part: she was afraid of getting too close, yet she made it clear that she was in love with him.

What the hell? What the actual hell?

Yes, he knew _exactly_ how Juvia felt for him; he'd have to be dumber than Natsu (which would be a seriously huge deal) not to have noticed. It had been sprung on him rather suddenly after Fairy Tail had taken in the two ex-Phantom members and he had never really been much into girls…in the romantic sense (he had to admit that he liked to look at them from time to time. After all, he was still a guy). The water mage was certainly not known for her subtlety either. There were quite a few instances where she had quite literally shouted out a declaration of love for him against an enemy while on a mission or showed off her masochistic behaviour when she made a "mistake".

…Not to mention how she had those outrageous speculations about the relationships in Fairy Tail and went absolutely insane over them. Her jealousy was hot, irrational, and wholly misguided. Anybody that blunette saw as a rival would receive a glare—and while she didn't initiate misfortune that came to her "rivals", she would giggle at it. Well, at least she wasn't _completely_ devious.

Mavis, she was _weird_ though.

That didn't mean he _disliked_ her though. Gray just couldn't comprehend her fascination with him. They _had_ been on a lot of missions together, and he couldn't deny that she was damn useful in a fight. It was amusing having her around.

"Oi, you gunna sit down or what?" he called to her sharply. If she wanted to be around him, she could be around him like a _friend_, not a stalker.

"Y-yes, Gray-sama!" she squeaked out like she was a rubber ducky that had just been squeezed.

Juvia was instantly in the seat next to him, blushing like a school girl and sputtering under her breath as though she was about to suffocate. Gray didn't really want to know how she could stand living like this and was briefly disturbed by the thought of his counterpart in Edolas, who acted the exact same way as her. He didn't want to think of himself acting like that in _any_ world or dimension.

"Look, Juvia, you are part of Fairy Tail and you are considered a friend. You don't have to follow me around," he stated firmly, but when he turned to look at the water mage, her eyes were bulging out like a bug's and she showed no indication that she had been listening at all—for good reason.

"G-Gray-sama! Your pants!"

He glanced down. No pants indeed.

Or underwear.

"Shit," he cursed. _Just_ when he had something important to say, he ended up flashing his junk at her instead. "Stay here."

She simply nodded, shaking visibly due to either excitement or emotional scarring (Gray fervently hoped it was _neither_ of those). The ice maker didn't believe she would go against his command anyway and quickly went to hunt down his clothes.

A few minutes later, he returned, fully clothed and prepared to have a serious conversation with her. He was absolutely determined to get that stupid idea that she had to stalk him out of her mind.

"Okay," he began, slamming back down into his previous spot, "did you hear what I said before?"

"Gray-sama considers Juvia a friend," she answered, smiling shyly.

To be honest, he was surprised that the blunette had even been able to listen when she'd so obviously been staring at his penis, but he pushed the impulse to go slack-jawed away. "Right, yeah. You're my friend, so you don't have to hide from me."

"Juvia knows," the ex-Phantom Lord member replied softly, "but Juvia cannot be close to Gray-sama all the time… She will not be able to appreciate Gray-sama…"

"Appreciate?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She placed a hand over her chest and peered at the table, smiling somewhat anxiously. "When Juvia is close to Gray-sama, sometimes…she-she stutters and, Juvia—she can't think. Her heart goes 'pitter-patter' and Juvia gets so nervous. Juvia…is not sure what to say.

"But if Juvia can look at Gray-sama from afar, she can remember how beautiful he is. She can admire the way he walks and how he carries himself. Juvia remembers how strong he is and what kind of person Gray-sama is, and Juvia loves him."

The ice mage rarely blushed, but that explanation made his face red in a matter of seconds. Being confessed to so sweetly for the first time, even while already aware of her feelings, was both flattering and embarrassing. The way she spoke about both of them in third person somehow made it even more adorable, and he simply couldn't brush off the sincerity she spoke with. Every word was true and every word she knew came deep from within. The thought of him gave her _confidence._ He had not missed the second half of her explanation; Juvia hadn't stuttered or hesitated at all. He meant so much to her…

…And it scared the _hell_ of him.

He'd just wanted to be friends, but how could that possibly happen now that looking at her made his throat dry, his palms sweaty, and his face unbearably hot? Gray definitely hadn't just magically fallen in love with her after that confession; he simply didn't know how to maintain a friendship with someone whose feelings went so deeply for _him_. Before, it was easy. Now, he actually had to acknowledge that this wasn't some stupid crush.

Yep. Scared him shitless.

"Juvia really likes being next to Gray-sama as well," the highly emotional mage told him. "Juvia…simply hopes that friends…is not all Gray-sama will want them to be…"

His head should have seriously exploded at that. He thought he had been prepared, but her words were so genuine—so obviously from the heart…!

"I, uh…" he coughed out, unnerved by her bluntness.

"Juvia doesn't need to know right now. Juvia can wait," the blunette placated him gently.

If there were any words for that, they were caught in his throat. It made him feel _horrible_.

_She shouldn't have to wait,_ he thought miserably. She deserved an answer and he couldn't give her one because Gray couldn't figure out what the hell he was doing! He'd been so confident that it was just an infatuation that she had with him, and that it would disappear as soon as he appeased her need for attention. He was so, so wrong. _So_ damn wrong. He'd completely misjudged her and now he was paying the price.

_I'm a dick_, the ice-maker realized in devastation. That was even _worse._ If anybody could be considered a dick in their guild, it was Laxus, and now Gray was one too. _I don't wanna be a dick!_

Before Gray could mourn over his new self-appointed status as a male phallus, there was pink in his face—or more accurately, rose.

Why was Natsu's hair in his face…?

It took him second to see Juvia's equally as surprised face and one more to find Lucy shoving the dragon slayer's head forward. She was grinning suspiciously and suddenly the dark-haired mage felt like the day was going to become a lot less normal. Lucy was always a failure when it came to concealing emotions.

"Hello there, Gray, Juvia!" the summoner greeted them cheerfully, her questionable smile growing larger and therefore more suspicious. "Natsu has something he wants to say!"

"I DO N—"Natsu shut his mouth as soon as the blonde's glare hit him. He straightened himself, waving off the celestial spirit mage's grip, his face hardening. "I got something to say to you, bastard!"

"She already said that, moron," Gray retorted snarkily, removing his jacket unconsciously.

"I'm only gunna say this once, so you'd better listen," the fire-eater growled irritably. His arm shot out swiftly, index finger fully extended and eyes ablaze. "I. LOVE. YOU."

The room fell silent, all eyes on Natsu in shock and amusement. Lucy stifled a laugh. Natsu stood still determinedly. Gray stared at his rival as if the guy had lost his mind.

And then he remembered exactly who was sitting beside him. If this was a practical joke, it was _cruel_. Very few minutes ago, Juvia had told him that she didn't need to know whether he reciprocated her feelings or not, but that didn't mean she was willing to _share_. Who knew what she would do? The melodramatic female could end up flooding the entire guild!

For now, though, she wasn't moving and her head was bowed low, expression hidden. Gray took his chance to do what he could before a bomb exploded somewhere.

"What the hell are you doing, you dumbass?" he demanded hotly, standing up furiously. "You tryin'a start something?"

"HELL YEAH, YOU—"Natsu was about to respond, presumably with something nasty, but stopped when the blond nudged him roughly with her elbow. He shot her a death glare before glancing back at his rival with equal ferocity. "…sexy…beast…"

Lucy burst out laughing hysterically, as well as anybody else watching (which was a lot of the guild). Gray's mouth dropped open, dumbfounded. It was Lucy's doing. It _had_ to be Lucy's doing. He had never _ever_ heard the word "sexy" or anything remotely similar exit the dragon slayer's mouth. It _had_ to be Lucy.

"NO!" Juvia suddenly screamed, also getting to her feet. The blunette look hysterical as well, but in a completely different way. The ice-maker wasn't sure if she was going to murder someone (namely Natsu), literally explode into a puddle of tears, or burst into steam from her love triangle-octagon-penta-shape thingy overloading her brains.

It was really quite astonishing when she did none of those things.

Gray's mind couldn't keep up as Juvia stepped in front of him protectively, arms spread wide. "Gray-sama," she started, "is not a pie!"

Okay, now he was _really_ confused.

"If all you say is that Gray-sama is sexy, you do not truly love him! Juvia will never acknowledge you in this battle!" she continued heatedly. "Juvia will not forgive you!"

The summoner seemed momentarily stunned by Juvia's tirade, but Natsu looked like he was completely lost on what she had been raving about. The ice mage didn't blame the guy for being dumbfounded; he himself was still trying to figure out what was going on. Like all others though, Natsu was built with a fight-or-flight mechanism, but he had never gained the wisdom needed to invoke the latter, even when his intelligent, good friend was shuffling away rapidly. Though Gray knew the water mage would never hurt him, he began moving away too.

The surprise was over; it was time for the usual.

"Bring it o—"

The dragon slayer's response was promptly cut off when he was thrown through a wall by a speedy jet of boiling water that followed him through the hole.

Lucy stifled another laugh.

Gray glared at her.

Damn woman. It was _definitely _her doing.

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><p>Two minutes after Juvia had attacked the foolish Natsu, the ice-maker had discovered the reason behind the whole incident: a bet. Thirty seconds after <em>that<em> Gray had jovially joined the blunette in her quest to beat the crap out of the fire-eater—not only for _making _such a bet, but for _losing_ as well. He would forever be haunted by the vision of _Natsu_ calling him a "sexy beast". He might've been able to handle it if Lucy had been the one to say it, but Natsu? Really?

…Speaking of Lucy, she had run as soon as she had the chance. Of course, Gray would certainly have wanted some sort of revenge on her too—she'd gambled using _his_ love life! He didn't care that romance was pretty much the last thing on his mind! That bet had _meddled_ with it and he was the one left dealing! Jeez, and she used to be such a nice girl, so eager for approval when she'd first joined. That summoner had been influenced too much by Natsu and Happy…

Anyway, at least the dragon slayer now lay on the ground in an inspiring bloody heap. It was a bit comforting. Even Juvia seemed satisfied with their work.

So…what was that about a pie again?

She bowed at him politely with that cute, shy smile playing on her lips. "Juvia will be going home to shower now. Juvia…really enjoyed speaking with Gray-sama today."

With a flounce of her bouncy hair, she turned to leave. "W-wait," he called out to her before he knew what he was doing. What _was_ he doing? Was there something that was supposed to go after a pathetic-sounding "wait"? Gray didn't even know why he'd said it. Still, he couldn't just stand there like a half-naked idiot with nothing to say. "I'll… come with you…"

Her face immediately flushed and he felt his own flooding with heat at the same moment. Admittedly, the black-haired male wanted to ask her a few things, but that could've been done another day. His mouth was screwing him over (probably not for the first time) and he had to convince himself that his brain was muddled from the recent chain of events or he might have to question his own sanity. Somehow, that had been the only thing he could think of to say and it sure as _hell_ wasn't intended to be romantic. Dear Mavis, he couldn't count the number of issues that had developed around him today. Yesterday seemed so far away…

"Gray-sama…wants to-to walk Juvia home?" she asked, eyes glittering hopefully.

He flinched nervously at her scintillating glance. "Yeah, something like that," he answered, finding no point in backing out now, "but don't take this the wrong way."

Juvia nodded vigorously and Gray _really _hoped that the rest of the day would go as smoothly as the morning had. He couldn't handle any more confessions today, false or not.

As they walked, Gray made a conscious effort to keep his pants on—he hardly wanted another crotch-staring incident. The water mage was being very quiet, but her happiness in this situation was quite evident by the look on her face. While he had cooled off from the earlier embarrassment, she still maintained a light blush. He used to think nothing of it, but now he realized there was probably a cascade of emotion mounting in her at this very moment. He still wondered why it was for _him._

"So why am I not a pie?" Gray inquired suddenly, arms cradling his head while they walked.

Juvia jumped slightly at the start of a conversation. She met his eyes briefly, her dark orbs darting to his gaze and then hastily away, back and forth. "A pie is…something one slices and shares with friends, is it not?"

"I guess that's one way to describe it," he muttered with a raised eyebrow. Only Juvia could come up with such weird metaphors.

"Well, Gray-sama cannot be divided. He is too special!" the blunette declared whole-heartedly.

"Juvia…"

"Juvia knows that Gray-sama is not hers and that many others love him, but Juvia wishes one day…"

The ice mage didn't say anything, glad that she didn't have any illusions, but also feeling guilty once again for so easily brushing off her feelings.

"Juvia simply could not stand such shallowness!" she stated in annoyance, clearly thinking back to the incident. "Juvia will have to fight for Gray-sama, but Juvia _wants_ to fight for him. _All_ of him. Juvia does not want just one piece of him."

His hearted raced as she finished her explanation. The passion in her voice couldn't be denied. She cared for him _so much._ She could admit this freely and continue moving forward like it was natural. She loved him unconditionally and hoped for something in return one day, but didn't expect more than he was willing to give.

Who _was_ this girl?

After so many missions together, he had though he had her figured out. For more than a year he'd known her, been decently close to her, and constantly spoke to her. He hadn't known—no, he'd never bothered to _notice_—the kind of emotion she held for him. This moment was really driving it home. She had always just been another friend in the guild and a capable fighter that stalked him as a hobby.

…But no. He hadn't known her at all.

She stopped walking at tall building, presumably at the apartment complex where she was currently living. Juvia took a key out of her pocket and began to put it in the lock, and Gray realized that he needed to say something to her. _Anything_. He felt like _crap_.

"Hey…" he began shakily, "I'm…I'm sorry I haven't been respecting your feelings."

Juvia looked at him quizzically. "Gray-sama was only being himself."

Yeah, himself. A dick. "Why do you even like me?"

She smiled lightly at him and his heart throbbed painfully. What had he done to deserve that smile? What had he done to deserve such devotion?

"Juvia has already said many things, but most of all…" The blunette successfully opened the door and dropped the key back into her pocket. She turned her head back to him, sharing her radiant eyes with him for the longest period of time that day. "…Gray-sama is the one who took the rain away." She pushed the door open and bowed again. "Thank you for walking Juvia home."

That was her goodbye for the day as she disappeared behind the door, leaving him to stand there alone with his thoughts. He spun on his heel and headed back toward the guild.

_Took away the rain, huh?_ Absent-mindedly, Gray looked up into the open air as he pondered her words.

Clear skies.


	2. Shaken

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the wait! Thanks for all the feedback, guys! I'm pretty excited about this story, and it feels great to finally get this chapter up. I really want to help expand the Gruvia fandom, so I'll do my best!

**Warning:** This chapter contains "Gray-sama" eighteen times. Seriously. I know.

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><p><strong><em>You Stole the Rain<em> **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 2 – _Shaken_**

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><p>Being angry was a comfort to Gray. It was something he understood and something that was very capable of taking his mind of really troublesome things. He would even call it familiar, and so it was entirely welcome in his system. Obviously rage wouldn't help him much in a <em>fight<em>—that was more determination that helped, if anything—but he wasn't in a fight right now, so being pissed off was okay.

Yes, it was perfectly okay for him to want to rip Natsu's face open and leave him for the vultures.

The ice mage had been searching for that idiot for an hour already, but he was pretty well on the verge of giving up. Now that he'd calmed down just a _tad_, the dark-haired male could see the cleverness around the incident. In fact, it was probably funny to all the other guys since it hadn't been _them_ getting a naked ass-whooping by Erza and Cana for ending up in the girls' side of the hot spring. He definitely would've laughed were it himself that had thought to chuck somebody (not just _anybody_ either) over the wall.

Damn it, his ass hurt. And so did his face and his arms and pretty much everything else.

_I'll save revenge for another day, so you'd better watch out, stupid bastard,_ Gray thought, gritting his teeth. Those battle scars from Erza weren't going anywhere. He might as well heal them on what was _supposed_ to be a vacation.

Gray scratched his head in thought as he meandered through the halls of the facility in a white robe. Perhaps he could go to the private spring. He wasn't much for hot water, but those springs certainly _were_ relaxing. Plus, they had healing properties and that definitely wasn't a bad thing.

He shrugged to himself and headed back to the bathing area. While it was fairly late and the male side of the springs was probably empty by now, the ice-maker decided that he would prefer to be alone right now. If he lost his temper again today, he might actually go on a homicidal rampage.

The meek attendant standing at the desk by the entrance was rather unimpressive. Gray was sure that his presence was already scaring the crap out of this kid.

"Hey, this one reserved for Fairy Tail?" Gray asked casually, pointing his thumb at a nearby door.

"Y-y-ye—" the young man attempted to answer.

Hell, he wasn't Gajeel. How frightening could he possibly be? "You okay, kid? I just asked you if this is ours for the night," the mage said, raising his eyebrow.

"I-I-I-I-I—"

Why was this kid shaking so much? This was starting to get annoying. "Spit it out, damn it!" Gray growled in frustration.

It happened so fast that the Fairy Tail mage couldn't quite work out how _this_ occurred. The kid who'd been trembling out of fear had his arms _latched_ around Gray's waist. Not only did it prompt the older male to wonder what the hell was going on, but he felt slightly uncomfortable having another guy so close to his good stuff—even if the child was like…ten years younger than him.

"O-oi… What…are you doing…?" the ice mage asked slowly.

"I'm…_your biggest fan_," the leech explained happily. "Gray-sama of Fairy Tail is in my _otou_-san's hot springs. It's a _dream_."

"Okay…" Gray was taken off-guard, blushing at the flattering comments. He hadn't known that he had fans or anything, though his guild was featured in _Sorcerer Magazine_ quite a lot. He didn't really pay attention to whatever crap the media was spewing; he had better things to do.

Still, he kind of had to figure out what to do with an admirer that had an iron grip on his body. If how tightly the boy was holding on was any indication of how much he loved the ice mage, Gray figured he should _probably_ try to be nice. The ice mage didn't want to ruin that kid's wonderful vision of him. After all, there wasn't really anything to admire. He wasn't full of jewels or exceedingly handsome, or, as much as he hated to admit it, insanely powerful. Rather, he was a foul-tempered guy that liked to romp around naked in the snow.

Oh, and Gray couldn't possibly forget what a _dick_ he was.

"Nice to, uh, meet you," Gray spoke in uncertainty, patting the boy's head awkwardly.

"I love you," the attendant whispered affectionately.

Dear Mavis, what was with people professing their love for him recently? He was quite dumbstruck by this weird thing that was happening to him. He'd never met a fan-boy before! What the hell was he supposed to do?

"G-Gray-sama…?"

He turned his head to see Juvia standing there in her own robe, blinking in surprise. The ice-maker wondered what he must look like with a little kid attached to his waist in only a bath robe; probably kind of ridiculous and somewhat unimaginable. Possibly even…

Juvia's hand slowly rose over her half-opened mouth. "So-so then Juvia is not of Gray-sama's preference?"

He stared at her for a moment in confusion before a mental brick smashed into his brain. His eyes popped open and his jaw dropped in horror as he shook his head vehemently.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" the ice mage exclaimed frenetically, waving his arms wildly in denial, but when his fellow guild members looked doubtful, Gray pried the kid off of his body.

"Okay, good to meet you, kid, but I'm going to the private spring," he announced hastily, giving the boy one ruffle of the hair before swiftly grabbing Juvia's hand and pulling her through the doorway.

He could live with someone thinking he was a dick, but he would _not_ let anyone think he was a damn pedophile—Juvia _especially_. He didn't want her to think he hadn't given her an answer in the beginning because of _this_.

He let go of her when they were in the middle of the change room for the private hot spring. The ice mage turned to see that she had quite a defeated expression, causing him to want to rip out his hair. While he was clearly male and enjoyed taking a peek or two at a pretty woman in the bath, he definitely wasn't keen on watching little boys bathe. She couldn't possibly think he was _that_ much of a pervert, right?

"J-Juvia will support Gray-sama's decision no matter what," the water-user told him, though her visage was blaring with disappointment.

Ugh…she actually thought that this was his thing.

"It's _definitely_ not like that," Gray groaned in exasperation, slapping his palm to his face while his mind raced to find a solution to this predicament. He really needed that hot spring. He'd taken _way_ too much stress today. "Look, why were you even wandering around this late anyway?"

"Juvia wanted to enjoy the water in privacy," she answered, a little surprised by the change in subject.

Gray sighed at this. He too had been looking to spend some time alone in the hot springs, but if the blunette had also been here to do so, he wasn't going to deprive her of that. Either way, he wanted to go relax and clear all those physical and mental scars away. The whole fan incident had momentarily made him forget how Cana had flashed him deviously, knowing that he would _never_ want to see someone he considered a sister naked. Now both situations were extremely present in his mind and he wanted to die just a _little_.

"Okay, just go," he ordered airily. The apprentice of Ur felt much too resigned to fight for a short soak in that wondrous water. Maybe he'd go hang himself instead.

"W-was Gray-sama going to the private spring as well?" she enquired shyly.

"That was the plan," he shrugged indifferently, although he really wanted to break down into uncharacteristic, undignified sobs because fate had taken away the only salvageable part of his day.

"Then…maybe Gray-sama would-would like to come with Juvia?"

Gray stared at her in disbelief of such a suggestion. _That_, he had not expected. _That_ was a game changer.

He glanced at her for a few quiet seconds, trying to figure out just what she was thinking. Honestly, the first thing that had crossed his mind was that maybe the water manipulator was playing out another one of those lecherous fantasies she had, but that thought was quickly ejected from his brain when he examined her.

She was blushing lightly and looking at him in nervousness, an innocent glint in her eyes. At that moment, it became abundantly clear that she wasn't thinking about him in a dirty way at all; she was thinking about him as the good friend that she was in love with. He kept forgetting that she was much more than she appeared to be.

Something warm sprouted within his chest. It was weird—it hadn't happened before—but it was a nice feeling. The only thing was that he suddenly lost the capability of saying "no". In his head, any logic that would dissuade him from accepting her offer was thrown aside and stuffed into a garburator. What managed to compute was the fact that he would be in a relaxing hot spring with a beautiful, towel-clad woman. He was a lucky bastard. Why shouldn't he take advantage of this opportunity?

Words never even left his mouth as his head simply bobbed in the affirmative. Juvia had him hypnotized and he was simply doing whatever came naturally.

The corners of her mouth lifted, causing Gray to snap from his reverie abruptly. Oh yes, the blunette looked absolutely enchanting when she smiled, but it had instantly reminded him of her confession not too long ago. Now that that odd feeling had dissipated, he could see things clearly again. All that guilt came flooding back as he wondered to himself if he was stringing her along or not. Wouldn't spending this night alone with her give her some sort of false hope? He knew he shouldn't do this, especially considering he was unable to tell her that he wanted her in the same way she longed for him. Frankly, this was wrong.

…Then again, didn't she think he was some sort of child predator at the moment?

Well then, now this little hang-out would be justified. It would be the perfect time to erase the horrible image the ice mage had accidentally gotten for himself. Gray was certainly not the type to fall over himself for a girl, nor did he really seek out companionship with them, but that didn't mean he wasn't attracted to women—and it _definitely_ didn't mean that he was attracted to young boys. He really needed to get that thought out of her head. That was why he wasn't going to change his mind in her offer. For sure, that was why. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to agree to her request…

With his somewhat pathetic rationalizing complete, the ice-maker rubbed the side of his face anxiously before grabbing a towel and tossing it to his guildie. "You go in first," he said after seeing her puzzled visage when she caught the covering. "I won't peek."

To show that he meant it, Gray abruptly spun around and closed his eyes, crossing his arms while a startled Juvia sputtered, "Y-yes, Gray-sama!" He couldn't possibly deny that when he heard her robe sliding off her shoulders, he wanted to turn back around to see what she was like bare. He felt compelled to; he _was_ still a guy! Nevertheless, the dark-haired male refused to go against his word, because to do so would prove that he, in fact, _was_ a dick. He had more self-restraint than that, though. He could deal with having a gorgeous and powerful woman standing almost nude behind him.

Shit, he _was_ a dick anyway. He was lusting after a girl whose feelings he couldn't even properly return. Well, he was really on the fence there. He didn't want to close the door on her feelings either, even though his head was telling him that it would be right to do so because leading her on was wrong. Was he leading her on though? How come he couldn't just power through that conversation? Hell, why couldn't he even bring himself to _think_ about that conversation most of the time?

Gray was damn confused.

Hadn't the solution to all this been clear in his mind only days ago? It made no sense. Now he couldn't bring himself to dismiss her any more than he wanted to accept her. Things had always been so black and white for him. When had there ever been a _gray area_ established? He'd always thought it was friends or not friends, or lovers or not lovers. _When had he gotten stuck between friends or lovers?_

"J-Juvia is done changing! She will wait for Gray-sama inside," the water mage announced in that small voice she used when she felt nervous.

He lifted a hand over his shoulder, waving to indicate that he'd heard her. As soon as her soft footsteps disappeared, he looked over just to confirm she was gone before viciously attacking his hair in distress.

"Come on, man. You never had a problem with this before," the black-haired mage hissed to himself, eyes wide and moving frantically. So maybe he had a problem with this stuff _now_, but it was really in his best interest if he pretended that he didn't. He _was_ about to bathe with her practically naked, though it wasn't like she hadn't seen worse before. How was it that he could be so comfortable without any clothes on in the middle of a crowded room, yet feel so self-conscious about being in his birthday suit alone with one woman?

Things…were steadily getting worse. Gray was so lost on what to do that he was starting to feel iffy about _nakedness_…_of all things_. He really needed to get his mind back on track. He was going to face her in a matter of _minutes_ unless he left now—which was absolutely out of the question—so the ice-maker had to figure out what to _do._ His brain was still adamant that he tell her that the future she wished for with him wasn't going to happen, but something was holding him back. He didn't know what, and he didn't know _why_. He'd rejected girls before!

There was his first crush when he was just a boy. The ice mage didn't remember it so well anymore, but he knew she'd always had her brown hair in pigtails. He'd met her while learning with Ur and Lyon in the village they'd stayed in, always playing games with her when he wasn't training or hanging around Lyon. They'd been friendly for about a week before he'd heard of Deliora's location. On his day of departure, pigtail-haired girl had confessed her love for him. It'd broken his naïve, little heart to tell her he couldn't be with her forever, but he had and he'd gotten over it in a couple of days.

The second girl, he hadn't developed any interest in besides the fact that she worked at the snow cone stand he was so terribly fond of. He'd gone everyday to get shaved ice as a snack, possibly leading the girl to believe that Gray had been coming for _more_ than just the sugary treat. He couldn't say for sure what it really was that she perceived as him courting her (maybe it was because he was always so happy to be there? Who wouldn't? Snow cones were the best dessert ever created!), but on a particularly sunny afternoon, she'd just blurted out that she was in love with him and Gray had proceeded to have the most awkward conversation of his life. As a fifteen-year-old boy who had spent most of his life working on magic, a tactful rejection had been impossible. Needless to say, the ice manipulator had never gone to get snow cones again, and boy, did he miss them.

The last girl, _he_'d had a crush on. It was his second love interest ever and had taken place roughly a half a year after the Day of Last Snow Cone. Her name was Makona, a rich girl that attended a high school in Magnolia for young girls. She wasn't mind-blowingly sexy or anything, but she'd been the cutest girl Gray had ever laid eyes on as a teenager and he'd been weak against her sugary sweet personality. He had dated her for two weeks before he found out that she didn't even really like him. She'd simply been going out with him so that she could gloat to the other girls at school that her boyfriend was a powerful mage in the famous Fairy Tail guild. After hearing _that_ secret revealed behind closed doors, the ice-lover had immediately broken up with her. Lucy was probably the cutest girl he'd encountered subsequent to that time, and during that period, he no longer cared for such things.

Since that day, he'd never had a crush. There had been a few rejections—heck, there'd been one after Juvia joined the guild too—and they hadn't really been anything. He might've felt a little bad for making those girls sad, but Gray never dwelled on it. _Never_. Even Makona had swiftly become part of his past when she'd hurt him so much. Lovers or not lovers, right? It'd been easy to establish Makona in the "not lovers" category. Oh yeah, a woman like that was the easiest to sort.

So what was different about Juvia?

She was making him question himself. He'd never had to think twice about a romantic issue until now. She was screwing him up; she was messing with his flow. The worst part about all of it? Juvia didn't even know she was doing it.

He couldn't keep being confused like this. He needed to tell her that he didn't like her like that. He'd done it with all those other girls. This time was no different.

Without further delay, the ice mage shed his robe and wrapped a towel around his waist, knotting it with extra caution to make sure it wouldn't fall off or get discreetly pulled apart by somebody's restless hands (and sadly, his own hands were at a higher risk of doing so than his biggest admirer's). He took one deep breath and then walked out to meet an ordeal that frightened him more than that black dragon on Tenrou Island.

"Gray-sama."

The greeting floated over from where his comrade was sitting in the water, looking particularly stunning among her element. Her long hair flowed down in waves, some of it submerged in the spring and some of it just damp from the heat. Her large, dark eyes seemed to pull the air straight from his lungs, because he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. The beauty of her relaxed so naturally and so in sync with her surroundings was mesmerizing…

What was he supposed to be doing again?

"Come in! The water…is very nice," she encouraged him.

The ice mage did so mechanically, stepping into the water and settling into it beside her. He didn't like the heat so much, but the movement of the water was soothing enough to keep the experience from being completely intolerable. Besides that, he was still mulling over exactly what he was forgetting to do.

"Gray-sama…is very quiet. Would Gray-sama be happier if Juvia were-were younger and of a different sex?"

That rebooted his brain fast enough to get him to remember how he'd talked himself into getting into this private spring with her in the first place. The water mage thinking he was a pedophile _did not_ bode well with him.

"_Of_ _course_ not!" he replied desperately. "Look, Juvia, that kid—he just kinda did that on his own."

Still she looked apprehensive, and Gray once again wanted to die. She _had_ to believe him! This wasn't happening!

"But…"

"'But' what?" he pressed, urgently trying to get something out of her that he could use to _fix_ this.

"But Gray-sama let it happen…"

Said person simply stared at the water mage, bewildered. Now that she was looking at him square in the face, the blunette seemed to notice this and tried to elaborate her reasoning.

"Gray-sama…doesn't let people…embrace him…" Juvia murmured, pressing her index fingers together, almost as if self-conscious.

Wait, _what?_

His mouth dropped open in realization. Juvia, who had a natural tendency to blow things _way_ out of proportion, thought he was some sort of freak child-lover because he had let a little boy _hug_ him. The tiniest little detail had changed her entire outlook on him. Nobody _else_ he knew would draw that conclusion from such an event.

Of course, _because_ it was Juvia, it made complete sense. True enough, he didn't just go around hugging people or really let anyone hug him at all. That kid wouldn't have gotten away with it either, had Gray not been caught off-guard. Juvia had only seen part of what happened though, and now he could imagine exactly how the wheels had turned in her head. At least now there was a simple solution.

…Well, simple enough if it weren't for his stupid inner conflict.

If he went through with this solution, did that constitute leading her on if he wasn't already? This stuff to do with the heart was tricky business. How was he to know if he was doing things right? Really, what the hell was the ice mage _supposed_ to do? What was the "right thing"?

Oh, _damn it_, whatever; immediate problems now, long-term problems later. Being cautious was taking too long.

"C'mere…" Gray commanded nearly inaudibly.

She shot him a puzzled look that did absolutely nothing for his confidence. Nevertheless, Gray pressed on.

"C'mere. I ain't sayin' it again," he grumbled, crossing his arms while feeling both embarrassed and miffed. He could feel himself…kind of pouting, which was something this man did not do on a regular basis. Why'd _this_ have to be the solution…?

"What…is Juvia…?" his fellow mage asked faintly, not quite finishing her question. Her wide eyes indicated well enough that she was beyond clueless in what he was telling her to do. Gray was pretty sure she was thinking, "_But isn't Juvia already sitting next to Gray-sama?_"

Seriously, that girl sometimes…

Groaning to himself, the ice-maker got sick of waiting and rolled his eyes. With his left hand, he caught her arm while he used his right to pull her into his body. Her head settled against his chest as he held her in an intimate embrace. He'd be lying if he said it didn't feel slightly awkward—he couldn't even _remember_ the last time he'd hugged someone—but he'd also be lying if he said it didn't feel kind of _nice_. Gray wasn't sure whether it was because it was Juvia, or if it was the fact that he was holding a _girl_ that made it so pleasant. The bottom line was that it _did_ feel great. He could just close his eyes and fall asleep like this. It wasn't like she was in any hurry to get away, after all. She wasn't moving.

_HOLY SHIT, _she wasn't moving _at all._

_Did I kill her?_ he thought frantically, glancing down at her in panic. She was staring blankly to the side with her cheek pressed against his left pectoral, but he could feel her breathing at least. With only that little towel in the way, it was easy to tell. That meant she was alive and it was going to be okay.

However, his mind quickly retracted that last statement when she raised her head to look at him. A hint of red adorned her cheeks as she gazed at him in a trance. Her eyes broke into his and stole some part of him that he needed to function properly. Suddenly, his mind was filled with the same kind of haze that shrouded the spring, and he was lost amongst the world that existed only in the girl he was touching.

Though caught by her eyes, he couldn't help but focus on her slightly parted lips. He wanted those for something—something that was very appealing. They were so pink, so luscious looking… Why wasn't he using his own on that beautiful appendage?

_There's a reason you don't want to let her go…_

There was, wasn't there?

_There's a very good reason…_

Jeez, what was he doing? Tearing his eyes away from hers, he attempted to compose himself. He needed to focus, not get all worked up for her. His hormones were a bitch. He'd almost gotten drawn into her for all the wrong reasons. Maybe it'd been his own fault for not being prepared—for not realizing just how goddamn beautiful that woman could be or how dangerous those dark eyes were.

And she wasn't even doing this to him on purpose.

"Gray-sama…?"

He unconsciously held her tighter in his embarrassment. The ice mage could feel himself blushing and he _really_ hoped that Juvia either didn't notice or thought that the heat was getting to him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her again to see what she _was_ thinking, lest he get sucked into her eyes again.

"L-look, I didn't want that kid hugging me, alright?" Gray muttered, trying to complete his mission. "I'm not some kind of creepy pervert. I was just tryin'a be nice."

She trembled against him. "Gray-sama…does not give away hugs freely."

"No…I don't," he agreed with a nod.

"Oh, Gray-sama, thank you," she gasped as her arms wrapped around his torso in return. "Juvia is honoured!"

Still, he couldn't fathom _why_ even though she had already offered him explanations, but he didn't complain. If he were being honest, the ice-maker had to admit that he felt pretty honoured too, because for one thing, she was a gorgeous woman that should rightfully never let a stupid guy like him touch her…but most of all, honoured that he was the one occupying such an important place in her heart. He couldn't say that though. It would sound pathetic, just like the thought that maybe he should ask her if he could hug her more since this felt kind of nice…with her pulled tightly against him, her head resting on his chest and her soft hands on his bare back…

This _was_ nice. _A lot_ nicer than when it was that rabid fan-boy. He actually _liked_ this, _and_ this was a person he actually enjoyed having in his company. Besides that, he honestly couldn't imagine holding any other girl like this. He definitely had other female friends, but none that were as close as Juvia. They _had_ spent quite a few missions together, after all.

And then Gray realized that what he was thinking about was wrong. He'd done this because there was no other way to convince her and suddenly he was looking for more than that. He _was_ leading her on, playing with her feelings… He'd just been rationalizing his actions for the last fifteen minutes. There was something wrong with him. There was something _very_ wrong with him.

The ice mage gently pulled away from her and it stung to see the happiness evident in her features. She was practically _glowing_. Mavis, what was he doing to this girl? Giving her more hope so when he pulled the rose-coloured glasses off her face it hurt that much more?

"Well, I'm out. I can't stand the heat for too long," he muttered as an excuse to get out of there. The ice mage couldn't bear to look at her without feeling his chest constrict in guilt.

"Good night, Gray-sama," she gushed, appearing more cheerful than usual.

The dark-haired male nodded a goodbye to her before hurrying out of the water and back into the change room, face burning from the feelings she'd shown him.

_There's a reason you don't want to let her go…_

"Shut _up_," he growled at himself, pounding on the wall in frustration. "_Shut up._"

When he finally calmed down, he threw his robe back on and headed back to the room. Gray didn't know what to think right now or what he'd been thinking at all. He'd been stupid… So goddamn stupid. He hadn't been able to stop those thoughts. He couldn't because…

_There's a very good reason…_

And that's what he was afraid of.


	3. Everything About You

**Author's Note: **Yeah, you guys can all hate me forever for leaving this story for so long, but here's an update. Woohoo? Thanks for all the feedback, by the way. I seriously have the best readers. :)

So I've received a question about the timeline for this story, and its timeline and Possession's were originally supposed to be like it was at the very end of the manga. It was supposed to be like everything had already happened, but then Mashima decided he was going to throwing all these curve-balls at us like time-skips and terrifying plot lines where several people die and then my whole timeline was screwed up. Thus, it's hard for me even to place when these stories happen. One day, I may go back and edit, but for now, you can choose.

Juvia's hard to write. She's a caricature to me, so I've tried to keep some of those qualities while also making her seem a little more human. Hopefully it's come off okay. I'd also like to point out that I don't think she's always as violent as I've written her in this chapter...

**This chapter is dedicated to Panda (Mrs. HopeEstheim)! Happy birthday! I'm sorry this is up late, but I was working earlier and didn't have time to type this and edit until now. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading this!**

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong>_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 3 – _Everything About You_**

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><p>This woman's voice grated on Juvia's ears mercilessly, the blunette shooting daggers (or perhaps swords, or cannonballs…or cannonballs surrounded by swords) at the back of the blonde's head. Juvia was annoyed with this woman. In fact, "<em>annoyed"<em> was probably the tamest word to use for how the water mage currently felt for the disgusting client she was escorting today.

Once upon a time, the ex-Phantom Lord member had been suspicious of all the other girls in Gray's life. She'd once thought that Lucy was her rival in love until she finally discovered just how close the stellar spirit mage was with the fire dragon slayer. From then on, it had been clear that she no longer had to worry about Lucy. Unfortunately, it had been recently that she found out that it was actually _Natsu_ she had to worry about, but at least her darling ice mage appeared to be faithful to _her_ sex.

Ultear, too, Juvia suspected wanted to steal Gray as well, but Crime Sorcière was never around anyway. Juvia hadn't really worried too much on that end. Besides, Ultear hadn't really tried anything to take Gray for herself, so jealousy had mostly been kept to a minimum.

This stupid woman, though, was _definitely_ after her Gray-sama! She kept clutching his arm and talking about his muscles and complimenting the Fairy Tail mage at every chance she got. Juvia absolutely _hated_ it. She hated everything about that pasty-faced, stick-thin, blonde spoiled brat. After all, what kind of person needed to hire mages to be escorted to the next town when she had a carriage, several body guards, and servants following her around? This mission was paying _a lot_ too, and considering neither she nor Gray were really financially comfortable, it seemed like an easy enough mission. Of course, when Juvia had accepted the request, all she'd really known was that it was a simple, high-paying mission that she would get to complete with the man she loved.

What Juvia _hadn't_ suspected was that the client would make her want to kill someone nearly as much as she wanted to murder when somebody hurt her beloved. The girl's name was Kaya and she came from a family that was obscenely rich. Clearly the girl's father wanted his daughter absolutely secure when she left town, something the water mage couldn't fault a caring man for, but seriously, this girl was ridiculous. She'd bought so many clothes and items on their way out of town that Kaya couldn't even fit in the carriage anymore.

That was why she was walking, just like everyone else. Except _unlike_ everyone else, she was pretty much draped all over Gray.

The worst part? Gray didn't seem to mind one bit.

Well…he didn't seem to mind, but he also didn't look all that happy about it. His features were pretty neutral about the whole situation, yet she couldn't stop the terrible image raging in her mind.

Gray was smiling at Kaya in all her hideousness and glancing at the girl like she was the most beautiful thing his eyes had ever fallen upon, like he was in awe from the sheer gorgeousness that was the spoiled woman. Kaya was giggling and covering her mouth with one hand while the other molested the ice mage's bicep shamelessly. They were talking like they loved each other. They were eying each other like they were lusting animals in heat. They were sparkling. Everything _around_ them was sparkling.

"Oi, Juvia!"

Her eyes were wide with horror when she heard her name called, head snapping up quickly as her heart raced. The scene she'd thought up disappeared abruptly and she saw her mission partner glancing back at her with his usual indifferent look even though they were still walking. Seeing his expression so normal comforted her. It reminded her that that image wasn't real, and it didn't _have_ to be real.

"G-Gray-sama!" she acknowledged him hurriedly.

"You okay back there?" he asked. "You seem kinda out of it."

"Juvia is fine," the water mage replied with a nod, trying to reassure him so that she wouldn't cause him any problems.

"Whatever you say." Gray shrugged and turned his head forward again, Juvia silently admiring his bare back. It wasn't until a second later that she noticed Kaya's head turned back to glare at the blunette, but the unpleasant woman's face returned ahead before Juvia could reciprocate.

Kaya was challenging her; the ex-Phantom Lord member knew exactly what the spoiled brat's stare of doom meant. There was certainly no way that Juvia would ever walk away from a fight for someone she loved. The problem was, this was a mission. It wasn't like she could openly battle this girl for her guild mate's affection when her opponent was the client. Unprofessionalism would make Gray lose his trust in her as a mission partner, and he would never want her on his team ever again—not to mention that Juvia really did have bills to pay as well, and it would do neither of them any favours if she lost them this job part-way through. She'd just have to find another way to make sure that this girl didn't worm her way any further into her love's life.

The blunette's mind drifted to their visit to the hot springs. Gray had always been the only one who could make her feel this warm inside. His kindness had taken the rain out of her life and his resolve always made her stronger. There was no possible way for her to love somebody else. He would always be that one to her. Always.

That was why this was so concerning. Her competition had never been this serious before, and to top it off, Gray was actually _paying attention to her_.

It…wasn't to say that he ignored the blunette, but he was never _this_ receptive with her. He even seemed to be engaged in an enjoyable conversation with their client, talking animatedly. He seemed enthusiastic.

Why? He was never like this. What was Kaya doing that brought out this new side in Gray? Was she actually more than a spoiled daddy's girl? Was she actually that stunning? Was she… Was she…

Was she better than Juvia…?

The thought was very disconcerting, though she managed to brush it away. She couldn't afford to doubt herself right now, if only for the sake of this mission. Professionalism, professionalism. Gray-sama respected her as his partner. Even he was working hard to keep the rest of his clothes on. She had to respect his decision even if she didn't fully comprehend his actions. Her loyalty to him was infallible! Juvia Loxar was not a quitter!

At that thought, the water mage bit back her jealousy and settled for picturing the revolting blonde dying from various forms of cruel methods and went back to glaring at the female's back.

Not long after that, the group paused in their journey to settle down for lunch. Kaya's father had provided all meals, so at least there was some sort of up side to this mission. The servants lay a blanket out on the side of the path where pasty-face sat down, dragging Gray with her. Juvia chose a spot at the corner of the blanket, if only to keep an eye on the evil girl through her peripheral vision.

The blunette nibbled at the contents of her _bento_, unable to focus on her food due to the terrible events transpiring meters away—and she wasn't imagining it this time either. Gray very clearly had his own lunchbox. He'd been eating it quite happily until Kaya cut in with her own agenda.

Salmon, that's what it was. The poor little piece of dead fish was clutched tightly between the chopsticks of the woman who Juvia deemed to be the ugliest bitch in all of Magnolia. That wasn't the bad part though. That same slice of _sashimi_ was now in front of Gray's mouth and still in Kaya's poison sticks.

_She is trying to feed Gray-sama!_ the water mage thought in a mixture of horror and rage. Her initial reaction was to _kill_ the stupid woman, but she held herself back the second she remembered her vow to finish this mission and keep the respect of her beloved. With that firmly in the front of her conscience, Juvia began gnashing her teeth violently, taking out her stress and anger on her meal instead.

"W-what are you…?" the ice mage regarded their client, looking in bewilderment at the orange meat he was presented with.

"Don't you like salmon?" pasty-face asked with a sickening smile.

_Gray-sama likes tuna better!_ Juvia raged mentally, her body now quaking and glaring openly at the scene. She knew this from quiet observation. She knew this because she was his friend. She knew this because she was not a _whoring slut_ that had never worked a day in her life. She _knew_.

And this _bitch_ didn't know a _thing_.

"Well, yeah, but I have my own," he pointed out, gesturing to the pieces of salmon in his own _bento_.

"Oh, but mine are _extra_ tasty!" the brat insisted innocently, though she obviously had ulterior motives. She moved her chopsticks closer to his face and Gray moved back accordingly. "You really should try it!"

"I'm good," the half-naked male refused politely, now looking a little nervous.

"Please try it? If you don't, I might cry," she pouted as she made a downcast face which Juvia assumed was supposed to be cute. This brat wasn't going to have eyes to cry with once Juvia was through with her.

She'd trapped him, though. If Kaya's father found out she'd cried on the way to town, their pay would be docked by half—_half_. Hell, it even said in their mission contract "we will not cause Kaya to cry", but there were servants here, and on the off chance pasty-face never mentioned a word of her tears to her father, those men certainly would.

Gray…had to eat the fish, Juvia knew… He had to eat the fish.

The water mage's grip tightened around her own chopsticks, physically and mentally _straining_ to keep herself from decapitating their client even as some rather appealing visions of Kaya's death flowed through her mind. Her partner sent her an uneasy glance; he didn't know if she could hold it together because _he had to eat the fish._

Her eyes were ablaze, not even looking at the male of her affections. She just hated that bitch so much and couldn't do a thing to stop this. She was angrier than she'd ever been in her life. Blood pounded in her ears and her mind went blank of everything besides murderous thoughts for the hussy. Gray didn't want to do what pasty-face wanted, but she was forcing him.

She was forcing him to eat the damn fish.

Gray stared at the little slice of salmon again as if he were afraid of it, then looked back at Juvia. His eyes never left her as he edged closer to the food on Kaya's utensils. He was eating the fish so that he could salvage this mission; the blunette knew she knew needed to control her actions so she wouldn't jeopardize their work.

Still, the chopsticks in her hand cracked in half and she bit her lip as her eyes were drawn to Gray's own lips. Closer and closer they got until his teeth grazed the tip of the raw meat. In one swift motion, he clenched that tip between his teeth, pulled the salmon away from the tainted sticks into his mouth, and swallowed.

Juvia let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It was over. He'd eaten this fish. And, more importantly, he hadn't touched the bitch's chopsticks.

No indirect kiss had been exchanged.

Thank Mavis.

She shakily went back to her own meal, desperately trying to suppress her fury by remembering that it could have been much, much worse. Nevertheless, the water mage kept an eye on her newest rival as she ate with her broken utensils. Gray was not enjoying this; she had to protect him as much as she could without screwing up the mission.

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><p>The rest of the afternoon went by quietly—well, "quietly" as in nothing dangerous happened to the group. Kaya was still drooling all over the dark-haired male and Juvia was forced to anchor herself to the memory of being in her Gray-sama's arms. She couldn't stand to watch the hideous pasty-face put her hands on his sacred skin, yet there wasn't a thing the blunette could do about it. Juvia had never gone so long without saying anything or taking some sort of action on a predator. She had to, though, for Gray-sama.<p>

Her blood pressure was probably immeasurable by the time the daylight started to fade and their group needed to stop for the night. The servants made a fire while Gray quickly excused himself to use the bathroom as they began to eat, obviously trying to avoid ending up in the same position he'd gotten stuck in at lunch. This was the moment that the servants decided to break out the _sake_, which Juvia politely refused; it was common knowledge that drinking during a mission was unprofessional and, more importantly, dangerous (unless you were Cana). Instead, she quietly munched on her food and watched Kaya down numerous little glasses of alcohol, shooting small glances at her gloriously handsome partner who was actually hiding behind the carriage. How she longed to be next to him…

"Oh, sexy boy! Are you back yet? I thought you only wanted to peeeeee!" the blonde squealed loudly, flailing her arms around with a glass still in hand. Some of her bodyguards were trying to calm her down, lest she draw attention to them while it was dark. After all, her carriage was basically, for a bandit, the equivalent to how Juvia felt for Gray. In other words, it was unwise for the spoiled brat to be so noisy during the night—_especially_ about Juvia's Gray-sama! If bandits didn't come around and start an attack, Juvia might attempt one herself.

"Sexy boy! Come back! I wanna touch your muscles s'more! I wanna touch your—"

At that moment, one of Kaya's bodyguards lifted her up and began carrying her to her tent, which the servants had set up quite nicely. It was a good thing too, because Juvia had seriously been dangerously close to her limit in holding back. Really, this girl was just as bad as Natsu! All she cared about was the ice mage's good looks!

"Is she gone?" Gray whispered to her from his obscure area.

She listened for a moment, carefully distinguishing Kaya screaming at the guard that she wasn't tired and the guard telling her that it was "bedtime". Juvia then nodded in confirmation so that her fellow guildie could finally eat.

He let out an agonized "_Yes!_" before grabbing his meal from inside the carriage and walked over to sit next to her. "Jeez, what an annoying chick."

To hear those words came from his mouth was like gold falling from the sky; it was wonderful. Of course, Gray had never acted like he really enjoyed the sick pasty-face, but Juvia needed a little bit of reassurance. She was terrified of having someone take such a perfect being torn away from her. She needed to have him in her life, whether it was as a friend or a lover…but she didn't want anyone else to have him either. She was willing to share him to a certain extent, but if the ice-maker were to have a girlfriend that wasn't Juvia…there was no way she could handle it.

"Juvia does not want a client like that ever again," the water mage agreed, coming out of her thoughts.

"No kidding," he snorted in response. "I really didn't think you could stop yourself from killing her."

Juvia's jaw dropped, baffled by his assumption of her. "Juvia would never compromise such an important mission!"

"I know you _wouldn't_, but I could see how much you wanted to kill her. I thought you actually might explode when she tried to feed me," the male replied, casually popping a clump of rice into his mouth.

"G-Gray-sama knew of Juvia's feelings today?" she asked, blushing in embarrassment.

"You aren't exactly subtle," he pointed out after swallowing. "Besides, this isn't the first time you've overreacted."

"Juvia did-did not know she was so transparent…" the ex-Phantom Lord member murmured softly, staring at the ground. "Gray-sama has never said anything before."

"No,it's easy enough to see when I think about it. I just never bothered to _notice_ before."

She looked up at him abruptly, shocked by the anger laced in his voice. Gray was not yelling at her; he was yelling at himself. Juvia didn't understand why it upset him so much that he hadn't taken her feelings seriously before. She knew well enough that that was simply the way he was. Gray was mostly a laid-back guy that loved a challenge, and his determination could give anyone strength. He loved the cold weather, fighting, and all of his friends, which was why it was enough to _be_ one of them. She recognized that he was not interested in love or relationships, but that didn't stop her from loving him and wishing for a future with him. She never once faulted him for being the man he was. How could he?

"Gray-sama should not be angry at himself. He is the most wonderful person Juvia has ever met!" she scolded him firmly, but his eyes remained hard.

"You're biased. You're in love with me," Gray countered.

"But Juvia is right! Gray-sama _is_ wonderful. He is strong and kind and—"

"_Stop_," he cut her off swiftly, but it was his eyes that really ceased the words flowing from her mouth. Those eyes were stern and full of loathing—_self_-loathing. "You need to stop praising me and realize that I'm _not_ that guy you make me out to be. I mean, _fuck_, you deserve so much better than _me_."

Why did he think that of himself? Why…did he think she was lying? She knew that sometimes people could not understand her feelings, but that didn't mean she was deluded. She knew exactly who he was. She knew his darker side, his disgusting side, and his bad habits. Everyone had them and Juvia didn't care that any of those existed! She loved _all_ of him! She'd told him before, and somehow, she needed to get him to see that it was the truth.

Feeling particularly bold, she grabbed onto his arm, meeting his intense gaze with her own. He was not the only one who could be stubborn.

"It," she began determinedly, "is not about what Juvia deserves; it is about what Juvia wants, and Juvia wants Gray-sama, even if he does not want Juvia in the same way."

He held her eyes for a few moments before sighing pressing his palm to his forehead. The ice mage raised his knees, draping his arms over them and laying his _bento_ on the ground. "You know…exactly what you want…"

He looked up into the dark sky, dotted only with the lights of the stars. "You're lucky."

The blunette tilted her head in puzzlement, uncertain of what he meant by that, but didn't say anything. She let him get his thoughts together as she removed her hand from his skin, flushing hotly at her own audacity from only minutes earlier. She could only hope that her proclamation had at least made him get out of that state of shame. What he'd said after…Juvia had always been someone who knew what she wanted. When it came to Gray, it was no different.

When he finally turned to face her again, he seemed to be slightly less conflicted, but still not entirely sure of himself. Nevertheless, he spoke with only the conviction her Gray-sama could speak with.

"Look, Juvia… I can't say that I'll give you what you want, but you sure as hell don't need to feel threatened by anyone," Gray told her seriously. "You don't need to feel angry when it comes to Kaya or anyone else, because I'm right here. I'm beside you, and I ain't going anywhere, got it?"

She trembled at his words, touched by his declaration and feeling something lift from her chest that she never knew was there. The water mage understood that she no longer needed to worry about the females chasing after her Gray-sama. She trusted in him whole-heartedly, and if she said that nobody was going to take him away from her, she was going to believe him. It was not from blind faith that his word was true to her; it was from instinct—something that had never betrayed her in her life—and experience. Gray had not let her down before, and he wasn't going to.

"T-thank you, Gray-sama," Juvia stuttered out happily.

"Yeah, whatever," the ice-maker brushed off her gratitude with what appeared to be embarrassment.

Red staining his cheeks now, he picked up his container again and started back at his food. Juvia smiled quietly as she continued on her own meal that had been neglected while they had been within their conversation. There would be no more horrible nightmares of disgusting girls stealing Gray away from her. There would be no more rivalries with other females, because Juvia had already been guaranteed a win. There would be no more fright in her heart, knowing that he wanted to be by her side.

She could love freely and fearlessly.

Some might find her crazy for it, but that was all she really needed. What she _wanted, _however, was a different matter. Whatever the case, she had enough to be happy and that was the bottom line. Nobody was going to take him away from her.

"Would Gray-sama like some of Juvia's _sashimi_?" the blunette enquired cheerfully, holding out her _bento_ in offering.

He stared at her incredulously. "You know, I _do_ have my own."

Juvia was undeterred, fully aware of the similarities between lunch and the current situation. "Yes, but Gray-sama likes tuna much more than salmon," she replied, gesturing to her appreciable amount of the pinkish _sashimi_.

Gray just stared for another moment before shaking his head and snickering, but she could see that the smile on his face was real. "Yes…yes he does."


	4. Nothing About You

**Author's Note: **Oh wow, it's been like 5 months. Uh...sorry about that. Believe me, I wanted to write this story as much as you wanted me to update it. xD But anyway, I had a bit of tweaking to do with the main storyline of _You Stole the Rain_, especially since Mashima has been developing Gruvia so much lately that I almost feel like this story doesn't fit with the manga anymore. Whatever though. More Gruvia is always better! Yeah, that and trying to fit in some con-crit I was given took me a little longer to edit this chapter.

Thanks to everyone for being so patient, as well as for all the feedback. Expect a faster update before 5 months next time. Seriously. xD

Anyhow, I think you've waited long enough. Happy reading!

(And just in case you haven't noticed, like me until recently, Juvia does, in fact, speak in first person as well.)

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong>_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 4 – _Nothing About You_**

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><p>"All this for one stupid mushroom we can't even find," Gray hissed, the male already at the very end of his patience. They'd been traipsing around this forest for long enough and it wasn't exactly fun when there were thorn bushes and insects everywhere. It was hot too, making this one of the few days he regretted stripping.<p>

"Gray-sama can rest while Juvia continues looking," his mission partner offered, cool as a cucumber in her high heat-capacity body. Her water magic allowed her to circulate colder water within herself so that it would take several hours for her to actually get hot and several more hours to overheat.

He snorted at her suggestion. "Like hell," he replied sourly. There was no chance the dark-haired mage would let his obsessive friend do most of this mission on her own. _He'd_ chosen it, thinking it would be easier cash than the last one (he still had nightmares about that rich girl clinging onto him and tell him about all her favourite shoes). Apparently decent missions were really low in number these days. How was he supposed to know how difficult it was to find a purple mushroom with pink spots?

Freakin' damn it. He should've known this shit was coming as soon as he found out that their client was a world-renown chef. Of course they'd be sent into a forest to find the most obscure fungus in existence. The two had already found tons of mushrooms that were purple with red spots, but they'd yet to spot anything pink that wasn't a flower.

The ice mage swore harshly, realizing that he'd lost his last shirt for this trip. When had he taken it off? He'd honestly tried hard to keep it on since the last thorn his body had met had cut his _nipple_ (probably the worst possible thing that could happen with his shirt off) and it stung like crazy. He didn't even want to know what would occur if he ended up taking off his pants.

"Juvia, have you seen my shirt?" Gray asked his partial stalker, rummaging through a tuft of grass, still searching for his mission item.

"Juvia has seen all of Gray-sama's shirts!" she stated proudly as she sifted through a large area using her magic. "Juvia even has some at home! The ones Gray-sama has left at the guild, I have always wondered if you wanted them back."

Slightly dumbfounded by her remark, he gawked in her direction. Well, at least someone had picked up his clothes after he…accidentally discarded them. It was amazing how much money he spent on shirts, pants, and underwear, which, after the fee taken from his rewards for the guild's funds, kind of explained why Gray was so poor. On top of that, he had his own apartment to maintain. Knowing he had some old clothes to fall back on was comforting, despite his foul mood today.

"…Exactly how many clothes of mine do you have?" the ice-maker asked, almost afraid of the answer since she'd been a member of Fairy Tail for quite a long time now.

"Juvia has 153 shirts, 32 pants, and…" She paused, blushing. "…fourteen pairs of underwear."

His face burned in embarrassment. This was so shameful that he'd even let Natsu laugh at him about it. Thank Mavis that annoying moron wasn't here to witness it.

"Juvia has brought some of Gray-sama's shirts, if he would like them," the water mage offered in a somewhat shy manner. "Juvia always carries some around just in case Gray-sama needs them on a mission."

"Sure, thanks," he accepted as she pulled three of his really old shirts from her mission pack. He donned a gray beater and stuffed the other two t-shirts into his own bag. "Alright, let's finish this damn mission. The sun's going down and I'm not searching for a stupid mushroom tomorrow."

His partner nodded in agreement. "Then Juvia will go look by the cliffside."

She disappeared beyond the trees in the forest and Gray returned to looking under rocks and bushes for the little fungus that was quite effectively destroying his day. He was wishing that his magic weren't so useless when it came to this task.

Half an hour passed with the ice mage looking through patches of grass, dirt, and at the foot of trees, his patience melting with the time. He was tempted to call his rival and get him to burn down the place. Luckily, that was when he heard Juvia's voice.

"Gray-sama! Juvia has found i—"

Her voice was cut off by a scream and suddenly he could feel his blood run cold as the sound of rocks crumbling echoed in his ears. No, there was no way that just happened. No way.

"_Fuck_," he cursed, running towards the cliff as fast as he could, heart pounding and terror crawling through his body. Why the hell had he let her go by herself? She could liquefy her body, yeah, but that didn't let her defy gravity. _Sure_, he should just let his guild mate walk off to an unstable area where she could easily fall to her death.

_I'm a fricken' dumbass!_

"_Juvia!_" he called to her as he reached the edge of the land.

"G-Gray-sama!" he heard from below. "Juvia is here!"

He couldn't even describe how relieved he was when he heard her voice. It was like thousands of pounds had fallen off his chest. Peering below, he spotted the female clinging onto the side of the cliff, shirt torn in various areas and cuts across her arms and torso, presumably due to her struggle against the sharp, rocky wall. The worst of her wounds seemed to have been staved off by her magical body, but she'd apparently had to solidify herself in order to actually grab hold of anything.

The ice mage reacted quickly, slamming his fisted hand into the palm of his other while he thanked the heavens for bothering to learn this from Lyon. "Ice Make: Eagle!"

A large, icy bird burst forth from his magic, swooping down the side of the cliff beneath his partner and lifting her back up safely to the land. As his magical eagle dissipated, Gray rushed over to the slightly dishevelled blunette, concerned about all those cuts now on her body. How in the hell did a simple retrieval mission turn into something this difficult? This day sucked.

"Are you alright?" he asked her gruffly, examining her injuries and feeling bitter about his inability to have stopped this incident. He rummaged through his bag quickly, pulling out a roll of bandages. He was about to apply them to her wounds, but paused when he saw her face, hearts in her eyes.

"Juvia is just fine! All because Gray-sama is so amazing!" Juvia swooned, mildly disturbing him.

"Okay, I get that you think I'm awesome, but could you stop acting like a _fan_ and act like a _friend_?" the ice mage ground out in frustration as he began to work on fixing up her cuts.

"I am sorry." She trembled, looking a little downcast at his scolding, and Gray couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for taking out his self-loathing on her. "Juvia finds her admiration for Gray-sama difficult to keep inside."

"Damn it, no, I'm sorry. I'm just mad at myself and I took it out on you," he sighed. Really, he was horribly lucky that Natsu wasn't here to see this. Getting beat up by insects and bushes, struggling to find a mushroom, and apologizing… Jeez, he'd never live it down. "Your best friend is Gajeel and you admire him, right?"

Juvia nodded quietly, curious eyes sparkling.

The ice mage continued, "Well, you don't speak to him the same way you speak to me. I don't wait to be treated differently." He stuck a bandage on her cheek, waiting for a response.

She appeared to struggle with his words. "Juvia…understands, Gray-kun."

He smirked, satisfied with his progress. However, the feeling was short-lived when he realized it was dark. The day was over and they still hadn't found that _fucking mushroom._ Yeah, his partner had nearly fallen to her untimely death and he had more injuries from bugs on his body than he ever had, but one of it meant anything when they were still in the same place as they'd started in this mission.

"Damn it, it looks like we'll have to start searching again in the morning," the dark-haired male ground out, silently seething at the prospect of wasting yet another day on the most useless mission he'd ever accepted.

"Gray…kun, Juvia also lost her bag when she fell…" the water mage informed him softly.

Oh, great, _great_. And it was his own fault for letting her go search on a cliff alone too.

"…I was able to place the item I found on the cliff in my pocket before that, though."

The ice mage paused in his wretched mood, wondering if he had just heard her correctly. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to the little object now sitting in his partner's palms and thought that perhaps a higher power was finally taking pity on him.

"You…have the mushroom," Gray stated dumbly.

"Yes, Juvia has the mushroom," she confirmed with a smile.

* * *

><p>So yeah, they had a mushroom, but Juvia had lost basically all of her possessions, which was why she was sitting across from him in his tent wearing one of his t-shirts. The bottom line was that it was too dark to navigate out of the forest safely and Juvia had no decent clothes to wear, so this was what had resulted. Gray actually wasn't sure how he felt about sharing a tent with his partner for the night. While he'd already established that she was respectful enough not to attack him in his sleep, there was still something that just <em>bothered<em> him about her casually brushing her hair with a hand two feet away from him…in _his_ clothes.

…Bothered? Yes, because it was a damn sexy and beautiful thing. Fucking hell, hadn't he resolved to leave this alone? But…why should he? Juvia had proved that she not only loved him unconditionally, but also knew him better than anyone else. She was invoking a feeling inside of him that nobody else ever had. He felt nervous, his throat dry and palms sweaty. He fervently didn't want to embarrass himself, though Juvia was certainly a lot more prone to doing humiliating things to herself than he was (at least if you ruled out stripping in various public locations).

Crap, what if she found out he was spying on her? Obviously he wouldn't be lying here pretending to sleep while he watched her run her fingers through her long, silky locks if it were perfectly justified and it weren't remotely humiliating. Too bad it was. Gray honestly didn't even know why he was so compelled to stare at her. He loved the way her dark eyes shone in the lantern's light and her graceful movements with each stroke of her hand.

She…she wasn't just some obsessive girl, and at times like these, it was easy to remember. The ice mage had always just thought of her as a partner or a friend or…a _stalker_. Right now, though, he couldn't help but see her as a woman. Why was she so damn appealing? Was this how Lyon had always looked at her?

_Just go to sleep. Go to sleep and you won't have to deal with this anymore_, Gray told himself, shutting his eyes tightly just as he attempted to shut out the rest of his surroundings. Perhaps if he embraced the darkness of rest, he would get to sleep sooner. He certainly could use the escape right about now.

However, the sounds of the water mage shuffling around on her side kept Gray wide awake. It wasn't that he was intending to hear the noises, but rather that he just couldn't stop them from entering his ears. The whole situation only worsened when he started to think of how she was moving in order to create such noises inside the tent. Her placing his bag to the side, her moving to adjust the blankets she was to sleep on, her moving to fix what was left of her bra… The possibilities were endless and his mind was racing to find them all. Thinking of her movements led to thinking about her body parts which led to thinking about dirty, dirty things.

He growled silently in irritation, his plans failing miserably. What else could he do? How was he supposed to get to sleep? How was he supposed to keep his mind off her?

That was when he started counting cats (now Exceed, he'd discovered), something he hadn't done since he was six. Gray realized how childish it was, but he was dry on ideas and willing to try anything at that point. One Happy flew over the guild hall, followed closely by a second and then a third. Vaguely, Gray could see the tent darken through his closed eyes just as the fourth Happy drifted above the guild's sign. Good; it'd be easier to sleep with no light. Fifth Happy, sixth Happy, seventh Happy, Juvia's smile, seventh Happy, Juvia's hand in his, eleventh Happy, Juvia's…

Wait, why was Juvia, clad in his t-shirt, flying over the guild hall? And exactly how many Happys had that been?

"Shit," he muttered in defeat, opening his eyes to pitch darkness. He was never going to be able to get that image of Juvia in a t-shirt out of his head. Ever. Damn sexy girls in boys' shirts—especially water mages in _his _shirts.

"Is Gray-kun unable to sleep?" a voice drifted over to him.

"Guess so," Gray responded glumly. If he couldn't get away from thoughts of her, he might as well actually talk to her.

"Juvia knows some good massage techniques!" the water mage informed him brightly.

His mind went to _really_ filthy places before he could stop it. It involved thinking about Juvia's hand on areas of his body there were rather…unsavoury to mention. Well, perfect. He'd just gone from being incapable of getting her out of his mind to thinking about her doing horribly perverted things to him.

What a great night.

Doing his best to suppress his raging hormones, Gray turned his body to face away from her. "…No, thanks."

"What if Juvia sleeps outside? I know that Gray-kun likes his privacy," she suggested kindly.

"Don't even think about leaving this tent," the ice mage growled harshly. "Come on, you should know that I'd never leave a friend without shelter."

"O-of course I know!" she squeaked back, almost in embarrassment. "Juvia just wants to do all she can to make Gray-kun comfortable!"

He sighed. That girl…always thinking about him and giving herself little to not thought about her own well-being "You don't have to love me so much, you know."

"Juvia cannot stop herself from loving Gray-sama with her entire being," Juvia stated quickly before correcting herself, "Gray-kun."

"Then you care about my feelings, right?" he asked carefully. If he played this right, he would be able to accomplish what no other person had: make Juvia realize that she was important.

"Juvia does, of course," Juvia responded firmly.

"Then what if I wanted you to…value yourself more?"

There was a long, pregnant silence before the water mage opened her mouth again. "Juvia doesn't understand."

How was he supposed to go about this? Gray knew that if Juvia had to sacrifice herself to save him somehow, she'd do it without a second thought. He knew well enough that she'd never be selfish enough to run with her own life and leave him to die, but he just wanted her to stop being so _fixated_ on him and learn to focus on herself too. He didn't want to be her motivation for everything. He didn't want her to accidentally die trying to complete a mission just because he was aggravated with it.

He…didn't want to be the reason she got hurt.

_But how do you value yourself when the person you love doesn't even know you?_

It wasn't just her who needed to improve; Gray had things he needed to work on too. He would know her so that she would value herself. For now, she wouldn't really get it, but as soon as he did his part, he would make sure she did hers.

"Tell me about something you like," he requested in complete seriousness.

"G-Gray-kun wants to know about something Juvia likes?" her intimidated voice came.

"Well, yeah. I mean, you already know everything about me. Since we're friends, I should try to learn something about you," the ice mage explained, trying not to feel so embarrassed about all of this. The honest words coming out of his mouth her making him feel awkward.

There was silence, and Gray believed that his partner might be quietly celebrating…not that I was such a surprise if she actually was, but jeez, did she have to overreact so much?

"…If Gray-kun wants to learn about Juvia, Juvia will gladly tell him," the water-user responded that timid note evident in her voice again.

"Alright, so tell me," he shot back directly, eying her shadowy figure critically.

The next short silence he presumed was because she was deep in thought. In turn, Gray wondered what the hell he was getting himself into. Yes, he knew he had to do something about Juvia, but he didn't think it was going to be like this. This entire situation was getting more difficult to deal with by the day. It was like every time he associated with Juvia now, his interest in her deepened. At first, he'd just felt sorry for her because the ice mage knew he didn't share the same feelings for her that she felt for him and it was just as simple as rejecting her (which, like everything else involving this woman, proved to be harder than originally anticipated), but that was changing quickly. She was no longer that "stalker friend" or just "the girl who was madly in love with him". No, she was his selfless guild mate who believed in love more than anything and would throw anything away to help the people she cared for.

Finally, Gray kind of understood this woman whose emotions had always eluded him like catching air in his hands. This was a woman who didn't care about herself even a little bit. Maybe she wanted to be loved, but to love _someone else_ was really all she needed. To keep the rain away…that was everything that truly kept her going because those dark clouds had followed her all her life.

She shouldn't be satisfied with just that. To be so completely content with simply loving and not being loved in return… As long as there was the possibility of being with that person and giving to that person, she could be happy. That…that was wrong. She deserved so much more. She deserved to be loved, not only by a man of quality, but by herself too. He had to help her see that. Now that he'd seen this much—understood this much—he had to help her see that she mattered. She _did_. Where…would he even be now if not for Juvia?

_I don't even want to think about that…_

"I…" the water mage began rather quietly, "…like the smell of salt in the air."

He blinked a couple of times. Salt in the air?

"It reminds Juvia of the ocean, where Juvia finds the most comfort," she finished.

Gray blinked again before started to chuckle at this bit of information.

"Wh-why is Gray-sa—Gray-kun laughing at Juvia?" she demanded, sounds of her shifting to peer at him through the darkness.

"I ain't laughing," he said with a grin, staying firmly in his place. "That was just…surprisingly cute."

Silence. Again. But only for a moment. "Gray-kun is making Juvia embarrassed!" the water mage squeaked, her body hitting the blankets.

"My bad. Tell me something else."

"Juvia doesn't like to keep her hair the same all the time."

He smirked. "Let me guess, it's cuz your hair should change like the waves of the water."

"What? Gray-kun is wrong! I just cannot decide whether I like curls or straight hair!" she corrected him hastily, huffing in a pout. "Juvia is not so cheesy."

Eh? Well, that was an oddly straight-forward answer for the blunette, but that was why he was asking her about these things, he supposed. There were a lot of things that he didn't know about her that he could learn now. He could learn and be someone who actually _knew_ her.

And when he knew her…he'd be able to show her just how much she mattered.

"Hey, listen," Gray started determinedly, "I wanna hear more, but first, I'm going to make you a promise."

"A promise?"

Gray folded his arms behind his head, speaking to himself just as much as he was speaking to her. "I promise that the next time we lay side by side like this, you and I are gunna be different together. I'm not going to be such a dumbass, and you're going to see thing differently. On that day, we'll look back on this moment and realize how much has changed."

"What will have changed?" her confused voice came from beside him.

It was a good question, because even with that promise, it was action that caused change. A revelation would not be nothing if the one who experienced it didn't do anything with it. Gray really had no idea how to answer. Time was going to pass and things _were_ going to change somehow. He might actually know her and he might not. She might fall out of love with him or she might grow to love him more. They might be more than friends or they might practically hate each other. Who really knew what was going to happen?

"I don't know," he admitted, closing his eyes. "I guess…we'll just have to wait and see."


	5. See Right Through Me

**Author's Note:** Heyo! So, I have computer issues and they have still not yet been solved and I don't know for how long they'll be around, so I figured I'd better get this chapter up. Thanks to everyone who left a review; they're always appreciated! I feel like I had more to say before, but now I can't remember what I wanted to say... In any case, with this chapter, it's finally caught up to the timeline of _Limits_, so there'll be a chapter for the GaLe companion fic next.

Er, about Juvia... Whenever I write her, I always try to develop her character depth a little more. Mashima really uses her as comic relief a lot, but this is how I would represent her in a more serious light. I still tried to keep some her main traits alive though.

Please enjoy!

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong>_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 5 – _See Right Through Me_**

* * *

><p>Juvia was a woman who was always appreciative of beautiful nights. Seeing rain all the time had only offered clouds instead of moons and stars. Now, with all that rain gone, she was able to see the brilliance of a clear night with the light of the stars shining through. It was a perfect night for the Spring Festival.<p>

She was in a pretty good mood, hanging around with Gajeel and Pantherlily. Of course, maybe the iron dragon slayer never really said much and Pantherlily just kind of minded his own business, but it was an enjoyable atmosphere. She'd already had the most delicious crepe with green tea ice cream and strawberries. If only Gray had been around…she could just imagine herself feeding him, the ice mage loving the taste of her ice cream and saying, "_That was delicious, but not as delicious as you_."

The water mage squealed involuntarily at the horribly inaccurate image of her guild mate. Oh, definitely, that would never happen, but it was always nice to fantasize.

"Get out of your head. We're in public," Gajeel ordered irritably, arms crossed with a grumpy look on his face.

The blunette pouted slightly, glancing in the direction where he was staring and saw Levy walking around with the other mages in Shadow Gear. Ah, so _that_ was why her best friend was in such a foul mood. He was jealous of Jet and Droy and probably was considering doing something violent to both males.

"Gajeel-kun, Juvia will be just fine by herself if you would like to be with Levy-san tonight," Juvia told him. The guy was so stubborn and prideful that he often need a little shove in the right direction.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied while she watched him pry his eyes off the girl.

"Gajeel-kun should just _go_," the water mage pressed, rolling her eyes at his hesitance. She honestly felt sorry for the solid-script mage because Gajeel was so clearly in love with her and vice versa, yet the iron dragon slayer refused to step out of his comfort zone. It was no great secret that gaining Gajeel's trust was like talking to a rock and expecting it to respond. That guy knew everything about comradeship and absolutely nothing about being open. To this day, Juvia was certain she was the only one that knew his attempts at singing and playing guitar for the guild stemmed from his childhood desire to be a rock star. In fact, she was probably also the only one who knew that his favourite hobby was to sing in the shower (although since Pantherlily now lived with him, he probably kind of got that idea as well). The only reason she knew these things was because she'd bothered him enough to break down his walls, but since Levy wasn't just a friend, it wouldn't happen that way for her. With Levy, Gajeel was going to be extra guarded. That poor girl…

"No," the male responded stubbornly. "Besides, I don't want to leave you alone."

"Pantherlily-san is here," Juvia insisted, feeling this was taking a lot more effort than it should. To refuse something he wanted so adamantly…what a guy!

"I don't even want to be here," the Exceed muttered, then turned and started to walk off on his own.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Gajeel demanded.

"Away."

The water mage sighed, knowing it was only going to be more difficult to convince her best friend to just go now. Stupid men. She loved her Gray-sama so much, but they were definitely the most foolish creatures on Earthland. Gray had apologized for being himself and Gajeel was denying the only woman he would ever love just because he was afraid of showing himself. How frustrating! She was going to have to go at this from another angle.

"You were staring at her tonight, Gajeel-kun. Isn't Levy-san beautiful?" Juvia asked, pointing at the distant solid-script mage among the crowd. Even Juvia could see how gorgeous Levy had made herself for tonight. That new _furisode_ in shining silk wasn't just for everyone. Still, the dragon slayer did not move his gaze. "_Look_ at her, Gajeel-kun! You know how beautiful she is, and it is for you!"

This time, his eyes darted quickly to the side to steal a glance of the intelligent girl. It was obvious he was trying to conceal it, but there was enough time in between the movement that the action was clear to Juvia. How much was he going to resist before he finally just gave in?

Luckily, now that she had him longing for the girl, she knew just the thing that would push him over the edge. "If Gajeel-kun does not go to her, Jet-san and Droy-san will be will Levy-san all night," she stated, her visage remaining completely serious to create some sort of dramatic flare of doom for her friend.

"As if they will!" he snarled angrily, and Juvia had to refrain from squealing at herself in accomplishment. "You're gunna be okay by yourself? Or are you gunna look for that stripper?"

"Juvia will look for Gray-sama." _Gray-kun_, she reminded herself quickly. "Gajeel-kun doesn't have to worry. I will not be drinking or anything."

With a nod, the iron dragon slayer finally started to approach the solid script mage just as, fortunately, the other two Shadow Gear members scurried over to a _taiyaki _stand.

The water mage smiled to herself, feeling warm as she watched her best friend interact with Levy for a moment. The way the bookworm's face just lit up when he appeared behind her was such a wonderful sight. It could almost make one forget how absolutely unfair he was to her. Almost. There was no possible way Juvia could forget though, because in some ways, she and Levy carried the same burden when it came to the men they loved. Loving a man unconditionally and expecting nothing back…she'd learned to live with it, but nobody ever said it was easy.

Sighing, she quickly put a smile on her face and thought of how amazing her Gray-kun was. There was no way she could simply expect he would one day return her feelings and it was always going to be hard to accept that, but it was something she could be content with if she was allowed to love him. Being negative about those things only darkened her life, which was something she understood from being something who'd been so easily thrown away. She _wanted_ to be happy and she _wanted_ to look on the bright side, and it was Gray's personality that helped show her it was possible.

And so she kept her smile, because to make herself unhappy when she was so fortunate was stupid.

Juvia wondered where the object of her affections was anyway, thinking that this would be a wonderful event for a date. Maybe he wouldn't want it to be a date, but her Gray-kun never seemed to mind spending time with her, and that was what was important to her. Admittedly, the blunette was rather selfish when it came to the ice mage—she _did_ want him all for herself—so it was quite gratifying when he allowed it. Still, it gave her the greatest joy to bring him happiness and he did seem to have a genuinely good time when they hung out together. They were friends and it was a wonderful relationship.

The water mage was lost in her pondering until she promptly tripped over someone's foot, landing in a very undignified manner on her front with her butt in the air. She sat up quickly, searching for what had caused her to lose her balance and saw a leg sticking out from the bush adjacent to her. For a moment, her eyes widened, thinking perhaps there was a corpse that had been discarded there, though quickly knew this wasn't so when the boot-covered foot twitched.

She jumped, surprised by the sudden movement, but recognition crept into her mind. That leg…

"…Gray-kun?"

Retching was the only response she got; however, Juvia knew she was right. What she wasn't quite certain about was why he was lying in a bush.

Coughing, and a bit more retching. She heard it all. Carefully, Juvia stood up and brushed the thick of branches and leaves out of the way. She flinched a little, looking at the unpleasant sight of her favourite male puking his guts out. She waited another second for him to finish, staying back because she knew he needed his space before he collapsed onto his side.

"Fuck…" he rasped out, breathing heavily and seemingly unaware of her presence.

"Gray-kun, what happened?" she pressed softly, announcing herself at his side.

"_Fuck_," the ice-maker swore again, though this time it sounded more like he was more dismayed about being discovered than cursing for his suffering. "Juvia."

It was more of a statement than a question, really, but she replied nonetheless. "Yes, Juvia is here."

"Why are you here?" he asked, voice hoarse.

"Why is Gray-kun sick?" she shot back.

Being the person he was, Juvia could only assume he was mulling over whether to tell her the truth or not. Most males in the guild were proud beings and wouldn't like being found that way. Gray was no different. Still, he wasn't in good shape and there was no way she was going to just abandon him to save his ego.

With a grimace, he wiped the sweat off his brow and sat up weakly, back slumped. "I'm fine."

"Gray-kun is most certainly _not_ fine," she replied, dismissing his horribly unconvincing statement almost angrily. Did he really think she was going to just leave him be if he lied to her? What kind of person did he think she was? "Why is Gray-kun sick?"

She glared at him, thoroughly frustrated with his iron jaw and stubbornness when he didn't say a thing. She may admire him endlessly, but her tolerance for stupidity ran quite low, even from Gray. Clearly he had no plans of getting help or, at the very least, helping himself, so the water mage took it upon herself to take care of him. First, though, she needed to know what was ailing him so that she could figure out what she was dealing with.

"Gray-kun will tell Juvia what is going on this instant!" Juvia commanded sternly, causing his determined expression to waver. Good. She was getting through to him.

Though his eyes lowered, the ice-maker finally opened his mouth to speak rather than to vomit. "It was an eating contest…with Natsu. I think I got food poisoning," the male finally answered with a grimace, and as if to prove his point, he suddenly whirled back into position to empty his already desolate stomach into the bushes for what was likely the sixth time that night.

And he'd said he was_ fine_. Mavis, men.

Juvia waited until he was done again, this time offering the handicapped man a hand to get to his feet. Gray did nothing to reject her attempts to assist him this time, taking her hand and getting to his feet. He wobbled slightly, the toll the sickness had taken on his body finally showing. However, Juvia was prepared and placed his arm around her shoulders to support him as they began to walk.

"See, Gray-kun? Telling Juvia the truth was not very difficult, was it?" she asked, smiling lightly as they passed underneath the arch of the entrance.

"Tch, you would've been pestering me until the end of time if I hadn't," the ice mage grumbled, though he obviously didn't seem quite up to arguing with her at this point.

"Well, someone must take care of you if you will not take care of yourself."

He let out a grunt, unwilling to admit that he probably would've been lying in the bushes for a lot longer if she hadn't come along. Really, fighting an enemy was one thing, but refusing to acknowledge an illness was just ridiculous. At some point, you had to give in and realize stubbornness was not going to get you anywhere when your body was telling you it needed a few things.

But anyway, the real question was where she was going to bring him. Fairy Hills wasn't really the best place for someone to rest, especially when Cana started drinking. That girl got _rowdy_ in the presence of alcohol (and a lot of the time even without the presence of it)—not to mention that a whole bunch of girls living in the same building didn't exactly create the most peaceful atmosphere for a recuperating male. It would only make sense to bring him to his own apartment, a place he could feel comfortable, at home, and heal in the silence if he needed to.

Plus, it didn't hurt that she was going to be in Gray-sama's home…alone…with _him_…

Juvia had to work extremely hard not to react out loud as a daydream began to creep into her mind. Gray was lying on his bed, looking at her through half-lidded eyes in a sickness-induced haze.

"_Juvia, I never realized how beautiful you are until now," _Fantasy Gray spoke, shiny circles floating about him.

"_Oh, Gray-kun, Juvia is flattered!"_ her fantasy self replied, hand on her chest in shock.

Fantasy Gray pulled at her wrist and she knew he was coming in for a kiss. She couldn't move in the heat of this moment. He was so wonderful, so beautiful, and his lips would finally be hers.

"_Juvia…"_ He moved closer.

"_Gray-kun…"_

"Oi, what are you kind of thing are you fantasizing about now?" true Gray's voice cut into her vision like a hot knife through butter. If she was never going to get what she wanted, couldn't he let her dream just a little?

"Juvia was not fantasizing," the water mage lied, stopping in her tracks to adjust her grip on him.

"Then why were you going to walk into my door?" he asked pointedly.

Juvia lifted her head to find herself staring at what, in fact, truly was a door. A black one, to be precise. Her cheeks burned. "J-Juvia knew the door was there!"

Even completely drained from violently puking, Gray still had the strength to roll his eyes. Instead of replying, he simply took his key out and unlocked the door, causing Juvia to be overwhelmed by the fact that she would be entering the place where her beloved lived for the very first time today.

As they walked up the steps into his small home, Juvia could feel her heart beating fast. Just the thought of being in his personal space with the man himself was heart-warming. No male had ever let her into his home before, with the exception of Gajeel, and he had never actually invited her over. Granted, neither had Gray, but he hadn't told her to dump him at the front door and leave him alone, so that was a positive sign.

When she took in the sight of his main room and kitchen, she had to smile. There were literally clothes _everywhere_, including in the sink. Otherwise, the place was pretty spic and span, only a little loveseat sofa in the front of the window and a cabinet with a few drawers. The kitchen looked like nobody had used it in weeks, but it was quite clean. It looked exactly like she thought it would.

Slowly, they made their way to the bedroom while Juvia worked desperately to keep away the vision of what living with him would be like, followed by what it would be like to sleep with him in his bed. Being here was unlocking a whole new world of material she could incorporate into her imaginative sessions, but right now, it was important to think about what was _real_. Gray was sick and he needed to be taken care of.

"Thanks…" he muttered, rolling onto his bed and off her shoulders before wiping another sheen of sweat off his forehead.

"Juvia…would do this for any friend," she replied with a smile, which was the truth. "Now, Gray-kun should just stay there. I will take care of you!"

The water mage danced out of the room happily, deciding to ignore the sigh that followed. He was obviously frustrated that he was depending on her for this. The ice-maker never minded sharing work with her during missions, but things were different when it came to normal life situations. He had a significantly strong conscience and probably felt like he wasn't doing enough right now.

She placed a pot on the stove after filling it with water, switching on the appliance and waiting silently for the liquid to boil. It was always sort of nice to do things without magic.

_Silly Gray-sama_, Juvia thought with a light feeling of fondness in her chest, _Juvia loves to give and finally she can give without being tossed away._ She _liked_ to help him. She _liked_ to bring happiness. She didn't understand how that somehow made her strange.

It was confusing, and sometimes even hurtful, the way people judged her, as if she was just some crazy stalker with a crush. She just needed to appreciate people differently than others, and for that matter, the only person she had ever treated with this amount of anxiousness was Gray. Other men she had pursued with false optimism, always hoping they would be the one that would accepted her—rain and all, but that man never came. It was only when Phantom Lord had fought with Fairy Tail that she found someone who really made an impact on her. Juvia had thought he had been flirting with her (an idea she hadn't been able to handle emotionally back then), but looking back, it was clear that Gray's intentions had been solely to rescue his guild mate. The infatuation had stared that day, then blossomed quickly into real love. Yes, following him had been silly, but it soon became a way to admire him, and when she was put on missions with him by Makarov, they simply helped her see every part of Gray (figuratively and literally, considering his stripping habit) until she knew him better than she knew herself. It hadn't been hard; Juvia paid attention.

Still, her feelings appeared to bewilder Gray to this day. Until recently, he always seemed to be pushing her away emotionally, but that was okay. She…she was used to it.

The water mage shut off the stove as the fluid boiled, pouring it into a cup and beginning to make her way back to his room. She refused to think about her depressing past. Going angst-mode was just unacceptable. This time was different. Her relationship with Gray, though not a romantic one officially, was based on friendship. She didn't have to be afraid of losing him, and he'd assured her of that.

"Gray-kun, drink some water," Juvia told her patient as he sat up slowly in his bed.

He thanked her, taking the cup and cooling it quickly with his magic before he began to sip it. She could see him watching while she pulled a chair to the side of his bed.

"You don't have to stay, you know," Gray said gruffly.

She sighed. "Yes, Juvia _knows_. Unless Gray-kun would like me to leave…?"

The ice mage stared at her for a moment, then continued to drink his beverage in silence with a small shake of his head. It looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth firmly shut after thinking for a while. It was nice to know that he wanted her to stay, at the very least.

Instead of waiting around for unspoken words, Juvia stalked back into the kitchen to locate a bucket of some sort, which she found under the sink, and placed it by his bed. He watched her carefully as she did so and she tried her best not to blush under his scrutiny.

"Gray-sama—kun, please rest. Juvia will make some soup," she announced, travelling to the kitchen for a third time and moving faster than necessary to avoid his gaze. It was almost an uncomfortable feeling, being watched so closely. For the very first time, Juvia kind of wondered if this was how she made him feel every time she admired him from afar. Maybe she should try to cut down…

It only took her twenty minutes to chop all the vegetables, which Gray had luckily already had in his fridge for some reason, and set them in a big pot of water on the stove. Juvia had done her best to keep her mind on the task at hand. Oddly enough, the atmosphere today was suppressing her usual demeanor and bringing back that solemn and isolated girl. She really didn't know why. Was it the way he was staring at her today? Or maybe it was the way she was caring for him like she hadn't done for anyone for a long time?

When she walked back into his room, the water mage could immediately feel his eyes still following her. She swallowed nervously. "I-is there something Gray-kun wants?"

"No," Gray replied. "I'm just trying to figure you out."

She opened her mouth before she realized she had no idea what to say.

"You just keep giving and giving to me. What are you expecting to get back?"

Confused, Juvia looked to him this time. Hadn't they gone over this? She loved him and just wanted to make him happy. She didn't expect anything back, but she hoped. Maybe it was pathetic, but she couldn't change the way her heart led her. "Gray-sama…"

"You love me, I get it; that doesn't mean I should be the only thing that matters to you," he stated, draping an arm over his covered knee.

She was honestly speechless. What was he talking about? Was she supposed to have some sort of response for this? How could he not be what really mattered to her? Yes, she loved her guild and her friends, but Gray was everything. She'd give it all away if it meant she could protect him, make him happy. He was the most important thing of all.

"Juvia must give…" the water mage whispered, "because she was not allowed to vie."

Rejection; everyone had to have at least some sort of grasp on it. Over and over again, she'd been told to go away and take whatever she was offering with her. Maybe it was wrong to be so desperate or to look so stupid for being happy for just giving, but it was her own version of being selfish. It was what she wanted. How could she stop loving someone who was actually accepting the things she wanted to give?

There was nothing worse than that continued rejection.

She didn't blame those people for not wanting to be around her, but recently, she had realized that the whole thing had been a vicious cycle. Juvia had been gloomy and sad because she felt love from no one, but people had never tried to break that cycle. She'd needed to feel love in her heart to stop the rain, and Gray had been the one to show her it. She'd felt his feelings for his comrade and his guild and there had been no going back.

Now that people accepted her, she never wanted to stop giving, especially not to Gray.

"Nobody wanted to accept what Juvia had to offer, but now there are people who do," she replied shakily. The water mage was uncertain why she kept feeling so nervous and anxious. Gray had never taken so much interest in her before, despite their great teamwork and the amount of time they spent together. "It-it is very simple…"

"At some point, you should want something in return," Gray retorted, viciously frustrated about something, but the water mage couldn't discern exactly what.

She blinked. He was questioning her again, not understanding her actions or her heart. That was okay. Juvia would teach him if he didn't understand.

"Gray-kun, why do you fight so hard for our guild?" she asked as she gave a hard look that he returned with equal intensity.

"They're my family."

"You love them," Juvia finished. "Love means putting those you care about above yourself—or at least that is what Juvia feels love is. There is no puzzle, Gray-sama. Juvia loves you. I give because I love you."

The ice-maker lost the confidence to match her gaze and swallowed, placing a palm to his forehead. "I really wish you would stop staying that."

Juvia smiled as she stood, getting up to go check the soup. "Then Juvia is selfish," she replied, never intending to stop letting him know.

"I just want…to be able to do something more for you."

She stopped to glance at him, a little stunned by his words. If she was being honest, yes, it was hard to share your feelings with someone who didn't return them, but he couldn't force himself to love her. He didn't need to give anything back if he couldn't. Then again, this was Gray she was talking about. Of course his guilty conscience would be kicking in at some point.

"Juvia doesn't need anything in—"

"I _know_," he snapped at her in the same way she had him earlier. "It's just…that's not what I want for you."

Not for the first time, he left her speechless yet again. Was this why the atmosphere was so strange? Never had she seen Gray so serious about her feelings. She'd seen him angry and frustrated with himself, and before, majorly indifferent, but it wasn't like this. Just what did he mean? What was he trying to say?

"Then what is it that you want for me?" Juvia asked, her voice barely a whisper.

The look on his face told her he'd heard, but a second later, he looked more like a deer caught in head lights, grabbing the bucket beside his bed and hurling up all the water he'd managed to keep down until then. Hurriedly, she went towards the door, intending to get more water for him and then run out to the store to buy some soda.

There was a heavy feeling in her chest as she flew out the front door. After having gone back to give him another cup of water, he was way too taken by his illness to remember to answer her question and she was considerate enough not to ask him in his exhaustion, despite how difficult it was to keep from saying anything. Part of her didn't even want to bring it up again and she wasn't sure why. This whole thing did tell her one thing though: while she knew everything there was to know about Gray, there were things she still didn't understand about him.

His words, the way he'd said it and the look in his eye…it shook her to the core and Juvia realized that maybe it was fear. But why should she be afraid? Why should she be scared?

Why…?


	6. Coherent, Transparent, Apparent

**Author's Note:** Chapter 6 is here! Hi everyone. It's good to see you (so to speak) again! As always, the feedback from the last chapter is very much appreciated. :) I actually loved writing this chapter, so I hope you guys like it. I know I update at a snail's pace, possibly even slower, so thank you for bearing with me!

On a side-note, I totally did not expect (SPOILERS?) Lyon to give up on Juvia, nor do I like the way Mashima displayed "Juvia V2.0". I incorporated the Lyon thing a little with some tweaking, since I wrote this chapter when he was still chasing her, but hopefully it comes off okay. As for Juvia...I'm sick of her just doing things for comic relief. My Juvia is not going to be like that _ever_, but of course I will still keep her core characteristics. Unfortunately, I feel as if he's doing his own character injustice just to make the manga funnier. It's like he's stripping her of her complexity for some cheap laughs.

Okay, sorry, I didn't mean to rant. Just go ahead and ignore that. xD Read on!

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong>_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 6 - _Coherent, Transparent, Apparent_**

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><p>It was like she loved him so much that she brought about a whole new level of self-loathing within him, and he couldn't say it was her fault either because he was just so damn confused about his own emotions that it kept bringing him to make stupid decisions. He thought she might actually be secretly manipulating him with some sort of dark magic, but it was really just an excuse for his stupidity.<p>

Gray didn't know what he was doing or thinking anymore, but he was still convinced that Juvia didn't care about herself enough. Though he was rather certain about that, somehow it felt like he was still misunderstanding her. Not only that, but he couldn't deny that she was slowly creeping her way into his heart, and maybe had been for a long time. Honestly, he couldn't quite figure out exactly _where_ she was in his heart right now. They worked together so well, yet it had been so much easier to just brush it off and casually humour her a little. Now, he couldn't deny it, although outwardly, he was still refusing to accept any of this.

The ice mage skulked around the guild hall, glaring at anyone and anything that dared cross his path. Last night had been a disaster in all aspects, and now that he knew the even had all been a hoax for a little girl to help play matchmaker, it only infuriated him more.

Right, the stupid Fairy Tail auction had put him through more grief than his first S-class mission. He had spent hours wrestling with himself about whether or not he should make a bid on Juvia, unwilling to admit that he didn't want any other guy taking her out on a date and rationalizing that it was for her own well-being, especially considering that Lyon would probably jump on any chance to spend time with the water mage, even if he wasn't after her anymore. Of course, his idea was refuted with the argument that no other guys would make bids, if only to keep from making each other look bad by breaking out the jewels. It wasn't like Gray was a wealthy guy anyway. Plus, he'd figured it would be kind of bad if people thought he actually felt that way for Juvia, but at the same time, he didn't want her to think he didn't _care_…

And so, that dilemma had carried on throughout the night and he had ended up doing nothing but walking over to the bidding area, not bidding, then walking away until he started the cycle all over again. Obviously the result hadn't been good either way, but he wondered what the heck he'd been _expecting_ to get out of his pathetic efforts. Lyon had won the night with Juvia and Gray couldn't stand thinking about it. Even if Lyon had decided to step aside and treat this as a friendly dinner, this was just unacceptable. Gray didn't want her out with him, or with any other guy, for that matter. He didn't trust any of them.

"You're not Natsu. That table isn't going to burst into flames if you glare at it long enough."

The ice mage turned his sulking visage on Cana, who was standing behind him with a smirk. "What do you want, Cana? Don't you have a date too?"

She shrugged. "Had one, but the guy said he had to cancel. I think he said he was in the hospital or something. He didn't want to take a rain check either."

An image of Gildartz drifted into his mind, eyes shining darkly. "_That's just what you get for leering at my daughter…"_ Yup, that looked about right.

"So why are you bothering me?" he snapped angrily.

"Jeez," Cana started with a roll of her eyes. "You don't have to get pissy with me just because you don't want Lyon taking Juvia on a date."

He froze for a second, grumpy face falling into a guilty one as he collapsed into a chair. His bad mood was constant nowadays and he tended to put his emotions in the wrong place when he was stressed out. Pressure in battle was good and got the adrenaline going, but he hated anything like this.

"…Sorry."

She only gave him a wide and knowing grin in return while he could do nothing but slump in his seat. He couldn't change the way he was feeling about all of this, and it was even worse considering that those feelings were all over the place. Ever since he had begun to accept Juvia's love for him, his mind hadn't been in sync with his heart, making everything more confusing. She was a really good friend—one that he had become more possessive of than he cared to admit—but that was all he considered her. She was someone he spent a lot of time with and someone who had his back.

But if that was all he considered her as, then why did she seem to matter more to him than anyone else? Why, out of everyone, did he feel the desire to help her the most? It wasn't like an obligation to him; this was something he genuinely wanted to do.

And, of course, there was just no damn way he wanted her to be alone with Lyon tonight.

"I can help, if you want," Cana offered, cutting off his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I said I can help. I know exactly where Lyon is taking Juvia tonight. Girl-talk is a useful thing, you know," the brunette answered coolly as a haughty grin snuck up her face.

"Wait, why would you—"

"I was supposed to be at a luxurious five-star restaurant in an hour, but some idiot decided it would be a good day to go and get himself injured, so I'm bored as hell," she replied quickly. "Besides, this way I still get to go to a five-star restaurant for dinner."

"Let me guess; I'm paying," Gray drawled as he crossed his arms, but he hardly cared if this costed him a meal or two. All he could think about was what could happen on that stupid date, and it would still be cheaper than actually outbidding his old friend would have been.

It only took a glance at her face to confirm his assumption. The thought that his wallet was going to weigh a lot less in a matter of hours was a dreadful thing, but Lyon laying his hands on Juvia was much more occupying. He couldn't just sit back and wait for this night to be over. Lyon wasn't enough of a bastard to do anything the water mage was uncomfortable with, but Gray didn't believe he'd be able to sleep comfortably not knowing.

"Dress up and make sure you keep your pants on. Be ready at seven," she told him breezily on her way out.

He stared at her back for a moment, some deep feeling of dread rising from the pit of his stomach as he stood from his seat. It was wrong to do this. It was an invasion of privacy for one thing, and Lyon really _did_ fairly win that date with Juvia. Gray didn't want to do this, but he couldn't _not_ do it either. He was already haunted by thoughts of what might happen, so if something _did _happen, he couldn't tolerate not knowing. He didn't usually hate himself—it was only when it came to her. It was just poor decision after poor decision whenever the situation regarded Juvia and that was frustrating. It made him angry at himself and here he was again, full of resentment.

He didn't know why he cared so much; he just did and he couldn't stop himself. Just…get this night over with and it'd be done. Maybe it'd stop. Maybe it'd be over. Maybe he'd stop caring so much.

…Maybe.

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><p>Why in the hell did suits have so many layers? Having a jacket over a vest over a shirt seemed suffocating, and Gray had to constantly remind himself why he was even wearing these wretched pieces of clothing in the first place. This was going to be worth it. Keeping all this crap on his body for one night was better than what would happen if he didn't.<p>

"Wow, lookin' good, stud," Cana complimented from behind him, prompting the ice mage to turn and glance at the female in her saucy black number. In a form-fitting halter dress with a long slit of the side to show her thigh, it looked like Gildartz was going to have his work cut out for him; Cana was definitely going to attract some wandering eyes tonight.

"Yeah, well, I feel like a cocoon," he replied. "Where are we going anyway?"

"The Full Moon," she stated with a smirk.

He paled. Lyon…really didn't cheap out when it came to women. Gray had been fully prepared to drop a bill for two people, but now it was quite evident that those jewels were not going to be enough.

"L-let's go," the ice mage croaked, uncertain of what the most horrible thing about his situation was at the moment.

"Ah, I can feel it already! It's gunna be a fun night!" Cana proclaimed.

"Don't even start…" Gray muttered, holding the door open for his guild mate.

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><p>"Do you see them?" the ice mage asked frantically, following Cana as the waiter showed them to a table.<p>

"Yeah, but don't look now," she hissed back at him. "We're heading to a good spot. You don't want to be so obvious and let them know we're here."

Gray bit back a reply, seeing the logic in his friend's words as he continued on forward. Keeping his eyes from wandering was rather difficult, but he seriously needed to keep from standing out. It'd turn into an all-out fight if Lyon found out he was here, and really, he had no intention of _ruining _his childhood friend's fairly won date; he just wanted to make sure nothing funny happened…or saw if something did so he could kick Lyon's guild mate-stealing ass back to Lamia Scale.

He stared at his plate while he took a seat, using all his will-power to keep from looking around for Juvia. The waiter rattled off specials that Gray could really care less for. Maybe now that he was sitting down, it'd be okay to look for her. Now he was just another customer. He wouldn't look suspicious, right?

"What kind of wine do you have?" Cana asked, catching his attention.

"_NO,_" Gray protested loudly before the waiter could even open his mouth. "You get two bottles of the cheapest wine they have, but that's all I'm paying for."

She glared at him, but instead regarded their server, "You heard the man."

"R-right away, miss…"

"I really hope you didn't want a drink, cuz I'm not sharing," Cana told him, lying back in her fancy chair as Gray rolled his eyes.

Wait a minute, that blue hair…!

He turned his head ever so slightly o glance at the girl he'd come all this way for. On the other side of the restaurant, directly on their right, was a small both that held Lyon and Juvia. They were snacking on bread with butter, Lyon chatting away about something while the water mage smiled and nodded. It even seemed like maybe it was…that gentle smile.

So…Lyon got those too, huh?

"I guess you found them," Cana commented airily as she poured her first glass of red wine. Holding her cup like a boss, she downed the alcohol like water. "Relax. Nothing's happening."

"So you say," he retorted, chewing at his lip. Juvia was laughing at something Lyon had said now and Gray couldn't stand being over here while they were all the way over there.

The first bottle of wine went quickly, Cana quite gladly ordering a pricey lobster while Gray simply ordered a small salad to get the waiter off his back. The table was rather silent as they both watched the couple across the room, one person significantly happier than the other. The ice mage gnashed a leaf in his mouth when his long-time rival reached over and wiped the corner of Juvia's mouth with his napkin.

"That's it I'm done!" Gray hissed, throwing down his fork furiously.

"Don't you dare stand up, Gray," Cana commanded as she swiftly administered a painful kick to his shin and elicited a grunt in response. "We only came here to watch."

"Yeah, but he's _touching _her, and—"

"And what right do you have to stop that?" she demanded firmly, looking at him sharply. Gray swallowed, for a moment too taken aback to respond. "You're not her boyfriend, are you? No, you're not, so if you march over there, what are you going to say? 'Oh, this girl likes me, so you can't touch her!'? Think this through, Gray. I'm trying to stop you from making a fool of yourself."

It didn't take a genius to know that he wasn't thinking rationally. Even he could see that for himself as soon as Cana's words were processed. Nothing had changed; he still didn't want to ruin Lyon's date and it was true that he and Juvia counted as nothing more than friends. Realistically, Gray knew that he shouldn't even be here, simply out of respect for both people he considered friends, yet when the opportunity had presented itself, he couldn't turn it down. Was he just stupid? It had been long ago when he'd learned you couldn't let your emotions control your action, and somehow, that was exactly what was happening.

And Cana…she'd stopped him from a confrontation, but brought him here? He didn't understand what was going on.

"…Cana, why did you bring me here?" he asked quietly, now staring at his partially eaten salad.

The second bottle of wine was almost empty, but she decided to forgo her glass and instead took a swig from the bottle itself. "How long has it been since Juvia joined the guild?" she shot back casually.

It only took a second for him to figure it out. "Almost three years."

"Right you are," Cana confirmed with a nod. "Now, since she's been in love with you since the day you two met, we can basically say that she's been in love with you for three years. Now let's talk about how long you've known all of this."

He felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing him in the chest. Yes, he knew all of this and it had haunted him since he'd realized exactly how serious Juvia's feelings for him were. Hearing it out loud was even worse than going over it in his mind, especially considering how long it had been since that revelation had occurred and knowing that things had just remained the same. He _still_ hadn't done anything about it, and he was in this restaurant for what reason? Some misplaced feeling of possessiveness? To be her saviour if Lyon did something she didn't want? She could take care of herself, and all he could really claim to be was her friend. Why was he sitting here? What in the world was he expecting?

"Cana, I…I know."

"Yeah, you do, so let me explain why I brought you here," she told him sternly. "For one thing, I'm doing you a favour. I know how much you wanted to be here, but it's also so you can _see_ them together." Cana gestured over to the booth on the other side of the room with her fork. "You don't seem to grasp that something like _that_ could happen. You just go on sitting there in your little throne of denial because you're so used to Juvia doting on you and you don't feel that she'd ever stop. You pretend like you don't feel anything for her even though the second you feel threatened that another guy could take your place in her heart, you go on the attack. You're in this restaurant, Gray. What does that tell you?"

The ice mage sat perfectly still, astonished by the truth coming out of her mouth. Maybe…he'd realized how sincere Juvia's feelings were a while ago, and maybe he'd resolved to address her feelings—help her learn to love herself more, yet Cana was still completely right. The moment he found out Juvia was going on a date with Lyon, a man who had been deeply in love with her, he freaked out. With the way Lyon treated her, it wouldn't be surprising if she somehow started reciprocating his old feelings. Lyon treated her the way she _deserved_ to be treated and Gray couldn't tell if she appreciated that (like she should) or disregarded it as a path to her affections.

Whatever the case, he hated it all. That definitely wasn't something he was denying. Was…it time to come clean with himself? Was it time to accept everything he'd been pushing away?

"I…need a drink," Gray breathed, now feeling awfully sweaty in his suit. He really wished that his shirt was off right now. Sitting here suddenly felt so wrong and the clothing was just making everything worse.

"Somehow, I don't think the wine's gonna do it," Cana remarked as she slammed her bottle onto the table and waved down their waiter. "Hey, you got vodka? Get us vodka, cuz we're gunna need some vodka."

When they'd first arrived, it had been impossible to tear his eyes away from where Lyon and Juvia were sitting; now he couldn't even bear to look at them. He…he truly was a fool, wasn't he? He hadn't wanted to let her in, but he wanted to keep her for himself. Still, she had done it all on her own. She had made him crazy without even trying to, Gray denying it every step of the way. He couldn't even remember how long ago he'd become so fiercely possessive of her. Had it really been that long?

"Here." His friend handed him a glass of transparent liquid and Gray didn't hesitate to down the whole glass. It burned going down, but the warmth in his stomach made it worth it.

"I don't know what I'm doing," the ice mage confessed, shaking his head.

Cana shrugged. "Most of us don't. We just do what we can to protect our family and be happy. It's never going to be enough to last forever, but you _can_ be happy; you just have to do something about it."

The alcohol seemed to kick in quickly, finally letting him feel like he could handle looking at that wretched booth again. Lyon, having finished his dinner, had reached across the table and had a lock of the water mage's hair in his fingertips. Juvia appeared to be a little stunned, but she didn't push his hand away, nor did she dissuade his actions. She even looked like she might be…maybe, perhaps…blushing.

"Fuck this," he whispered harshly under his breath. "Can we leave?"

"Sure, I'm done eating anyway," Cana replied as she pushed her plate away. The shell sitting on top of it looked as empty as he was feeling. "Thanks for dinner."

"Whatever. Let's stop by the liquor store on the way home," Gray sighed, throwing down enough jewels to cover dinner and tip. He would've complained about how much of a rip off this place was if he wasn't so horrible distracted.

Cana gave him a hearty slap on the back. "That's _my_ treat."

* * *

><p>"Woohoo! Safely home for another night!"<p>

"We're home?"

"No, _I'm_ home. I think. Yeknow, things're kinda spinning, so maybe s'not home."

A groan. "But if I'm not home, there's—there ain't any vodka left!"

"Heeeeey, my key fits in this hole-thingy. Maybe I _am_ home."

"I…I should go find home," Gray mumbled as he slinked against the wall. "Gray Fullbuster go home."

"G'night," his inebriated friend called after him, and the click of her door indicated that she indeed was home.

Wait, wasn't he in Fairy Hills then? Why was he here if he didn't live here? Oh, right. Being the ever-so-wonderful gentleman he was, he had made up his mind to escort Cana home. After all, it was pretty simply bad etiquette to let a female friend walk home by her lonesome in the dark—drunk, for that matter.

Well, now she was home and she was safe and he wasn't sure why he was still here. But then…that door down the hall looked so familiar. He had only been to Fairy Hills a couple of time, yet he just seemed to recognize that door. It was blue, decorated with various white butterfly stickers, except he wasn't sure they were stickers because they kept moving in this odd manner that was most certainly not fluttering. He tried to squint to focus more on the movements of the butterflies, but it didn't seem to help much.

Curiously, the ice mage clawed at the butterflies, yet somehow couldn't catch them. That was incredibly frustrating, to say the least. His fingers rapped against the wood repeatedly and still he couldn't catch a thing. It was only after another few second that he realized that the door was no longer there and he was facing a rather beautiful woman instead

Oh, so _that_ was whose door this was.

"Gray-kun…?"

She was still in the dress she'd been wearing on her date with Lyon and she still looked equally gorgeous to him. Had she kissed that guy with her precious lips? The ones that always used to form the characters in his name? Just thinking about it made him want more vodka.

"Gray-kun, what are you doing here? A-and where is your shirt?" Juvia asked as she stepped back, allowing him access to her apartment.

"I walked Cana home," he replied, stumbling past the doorframe before his legs weakened and he crumpled to the floor. Honestly, he hadn't known he'd been missing his shirt until she told him. It was a small comfort knowing that his chest was bare and free, and yet kind of disappointing that he'd lost another shirt.

"Didn't Cana-san have a date?" the water mage inquired as she sat on the floor next to him.

He nodded. "Yeah, but Gildartz beat the shit out of her date, so instead she helped me spy on you and Lyon cuz I'mman asshole." At that moment, it really didn't seem so horrible to tell her the truth. "Also, 'm prolly kinda smashed."

"Juvia can see that…"

He leaned into her tiredly, legs bent and hands to himself even as his forehead fell against her shoulder. It felt so nice to be this close to her in the place she lived, alone. There were no interruptions by another ice mage, nor was his conscience weighing on him so heavily. He wasn't thinking about the consequences of his actions or how they would affect her emotions. He was just close to her, like he wanted to be, and there wasn't anything holding him back.

"Did he…" Gray breathed, unable to even finish his question.

"Silly Gray-kun, Lyon-sama was nothing less than a friendly gentleman, as he said he would be back then," she assured him softly. "Besides, Juvia will only allow Gray-kun to touch her with so much affection."

It was a truth that brought peace to his clouded world. Slowly, he pulled her closer, kissing her softly as his hand trailed down her cheek. Was this possibly wrong? Suddenly, it was like he wasn't confused anymore, like he had stopped resisting all of it. Her lips against his seemed so natural. Everything just flowed and felt so good. Were he sober, he might have worried about his lack of experience, but it really didn't register at that moment. Just…just…

Juvia pulled away from him, short of breath with her forehead against his. "J-Juvia can't. N-not while Gray-kun is-is like this…"

Not…like this? Because he was drunk? Because he was finally being honest? Because he was heading into something he might not be ready for?

Shit, she didn't know a thing. He was ready. He was just dumb and scared when his emotions were so obvious that he'd pushed himself into denial. Didn't she realize how much he wanted to kiss her? Didn't she understand that being drunk gave him an even better excuse to do so?

She didn't know a thing, but how could he blame her when he'd been so busy convincing her that his not wanting her was something she _should_ know?

"I just…need you more than I say," he breathed, his words coherent, but his mind buzzing in a jumbled mess of anything and everything. Gray was barely hanging on to whatever was driving him. The alcohol could finally be wearing him down. Her smell and warmth gave a very ideal environment for sleeping as well. Even his eyelids felt heavy.

He…just wanted her to believe him. She had to know that what he was saying was true. She had felt threatened in the past and he'd needed to reassure her that there was nobody going to take him away from her, but he was too proud to admit that he needed the same reassurance from her. He felt threatened by any man who was aggressive enough to court her openly. He hated any male who looked at her the wrong way. It was hilarious. Juvia had never really needed to worry about some girl stealing him; it'd always been her, only her. Even if the feelings hadn't been as nearly as intense as they were now, he hadn't given a second thought to anyone but her. She was the only one that made him think. She was the only one that made him _feel_ like this.

His eyes fell shut as he gripped her wrist. She had to believe him. It was the truth. _Finally_, the truth.

And of anyone in the world, she was the one who deserved the truth most of all.


	7. Wide Eyes

**Author's Note: **Yo kittens. Everyone gearing up for Winter Break? Have a chapter whilst you bust your butts studying for exams and everything. Thanks for all your feedback, as always! It is wholly appreciated!

Because Mashima has never made how Juvia's magic works completely clear (he's really confusing about that, actually. Come on, you have to admit that), my own interpretation is sort of in this chapter. Bear with me.

I will be writing a gift fic for the holidays, as voted by my readers. So if anyone is interested in reading that, just a heads up to look for it in the next few weeks! :)

Please read happily before the shit (pardon my language) hits the fan in this story. Hohoho!

* * *

><p><strong><em>You Stole the Rain<em> **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 7 – _Wide Eyes_**

* * *

><p>Last week had been the first time Juvia had ever entered a club; today would be her last.<p>

There was just something so absolutely unpleasant about the setting she was in. She hated the dim lights and music, and she didn't exactly enjoy all the men who approached her while she sat at the bar. Perhaps she would accept no less than Gray himself, but these males were the lowest of the low. At least Lyon had respected her, backed off when she asked him to and completely acknowledged her feelings for Gray. She never went close to the dance floor and yet there were so many greasy males that still insisted on bothering her. The worst part was that she wasn't used to so much male attention, and so had quite some difficulty turning them all away. After all, she didn't know how to be cruel.

Fortunately for her, tonight she and Gray would finally put their plan into action for the low-paying mission of rescuing a kidnapped girl. Of course, they'd really chosen the mission because they wanted to save an innocent young soul—she had been drawn to the paper on the mission board right away. Still, saving the girl was their top priority. Unfortunately, while it had been proven that the Magic Council had determined the missing girl's location, that location also appeared to be on a notorious trade boat…and not the normal type of trading. This was a boat that traded and sold girls and women they'd snatched away from their lives, so it wasn't the most straight-forward mission. They needed to be careful not to tip off the big boss Waltz while getting on the ship. A stealth mission simply wouldn't do it.

And that was why Juvia was in a club, trying to create an identity different from her own. Their plan was simple, actually. Gray had gone undercover in the organization about three weeks ago, but the actual trading ship wouldn't be in town until tonight. With Gray in the position of being a grunt for taking girls in, he'd be able to get them both on the ship to pull off the operation. Waltz liked to meet all the new subjects privately, so Juvia's job was to distract him while the ice mage released any prisoners being held. With Juvia's water magic, getting everyone back to shore would be the easy part.

Good thing she saw her partner entering the venue now. She honestly didn't know how much longer she could tolerate being in this place.

"Look interested," the male told her quickly as he approached her, pulling her away from the bar. "The men are watching me closely tonight since it's my first 'collection'. They know I've had my eye on you."

"Juvia can do that," she replied with a shy smile. It wasn't all that difficult to play into a role she already had as her own person.

She blushed furiously as his hand slipped around her waist, dragging her over to the dance floor and swaying casually to the fast-paced music. He held her hips with either hand, pressing his body close to hers—way closer than he should've been—while his head draped over her shoulder. Gray was close enough that she could feel his breath tickling her ear.

This…this wasn't supposed to be part of the mission.

"Sorry," he apologized in a hushed tone, only loud enough to be heard over the blaring music, "they want me to seduce you."

Juvia said nothing in return, too embarrassed to acknowledge this was actually happening. She was desperately trying to get a hold of herself. This situation was basically on par with whatever imaginary scenario she could've thought up in her head, and she needed to remember that this was for the mission, not her own pleasure.

Wasn't this such a stereotypical situation? Like something out of a book? In fact, it was making her feel kind of awkward. The only other time they'd been this close was when she'd found him collapsed outside her door, drunk. Besides, she was rather certain that Gray didn't recall that moment of indiscretion. Being this close to him was nice, but…all of it seemed to _shallow_ now.

Hanging all over him and telling him that she loved him; she felt so foolish now that something like this was happening to her. How could she even claim to know him when she always did the opposite of what he liked? After all they had been through together, all they had learned about each other…it was too easy, forcing him into this situation. She almost wanted to push him away.

"Hey, focus," the ice mage demanded, slowly backing her against the wall, his lips next to her ear. His hand slid up her side and her skin tingled with every motion. "Get into it. We can't screw this up."

"I-I won't…!" she replied, shivering a she placed her arms around his neck. "I'm just a bit nervous…"

He chuckled. "So you can ask me to spank you in public, but _this _makes you lose your nerve."

She flushed, if it were at all possible for her face to get darker. So maybe she had been a little outspoken and audacious, but it was clear now that Juvia had become a little more conservative in her pursuit of Gray, especially since they'd become closer as friends. She'd never make such a suggestion to Gajeel-kun, after all.

"Remember, I told you that I'm not gunna leave you. That's still true." Gray brushed her cheek with his thumb, forehead pressed against the wall. Slowly, he lowered his head, his lips now grazing the side of her face. "That's why we're doing this together."

The words were reassuring, but she couldn't figure out why he was closer than he had to be. Even to play his part, he didn't need to be touching her the way he was right now. He wasn't ready.

"Just think about the water," he soothed her softly. "Pretend we're in it. There's that area just below the surface where it's warm from the sun. Pretend it's just us and the water. There. Pretend you can taste the salt on your lips."

He knew exactly what to say to make her believe in scene he was weaving, even while he slid a hand up her side, gently pulling a ringlet of her hair. She was under the spell of desire, rolling her head back as he kissed her pulse. He…wasn't ready.

"No rain," he whispered, "just us."

He wasn't ready…but was she?

Spellbound, she let him draw her face towards his own, their lips connecting gently. The first kiss was brief and pure, like a drop of fresh water blending into the sea. The second was hard, braver, and more convincing for the both of them. It was more confident and assured, more the way Juvia always imagined the ice mage might kiss. The third, however, was borderline arrogant, almost as if he had tossed away all inhibition and had decided for her that this was what she wanted, although in truth, she did nothing to deter him.

Any feelings of uncertainty that Juvia had felt were swept away and replaced with the feeling of him kissing her. She squeaked quietly against his mouth as his hand ran up the lateral aspect of her thigh, making her suddenly aware of the fact that her skirt was much shorter than normal. Before she could really give it much thought, he was nipping at her neck and she was lost in a world of unfamiliar sensations.

The colourful lights above her looked different while her fingers tangled into his hair. They still seemed as flashy as they'd appeared all week, but there was something duller about them that Juvia couldn't quite discern. It seemed as though her awareness had dropped by nearly half in her dazed state. Only a few moments later, his mouth was moving against hers again, tongue prodding her as her eyes fell shut.

"Buddy, need a drink?"

Everything that clouded her thoughts and judgement slipped away when Gray did. This slightly scroungey male had elbowed her partner, putting an end to their engagement. Gray almost seemed a little dumbfounded as he accepted the drink.

"Uh, right, sure," the ice mage replied, taking the glass quickly. The man who had interrupted them retreated and Gray simply stared at the drink blankly for about 30 seconds.

"G-Gray-kun…" she tried to alert him. Now that Juvia's awareness had returned, she found herself beginning to feel very uncomfortable in her revealing outfit. Her normal battle outfits, no matter how revealing, were vastly different compared to scandalous clubbing clothes. She'd never get used to them.

"Oh right, the drink's for you," he said quickly, thrusting the glass at her. "It's drugged."

She nodded silently, taking it and downing the glass despite the burning taste of its contents. Her magic body detected the toxic matter immediately and it was easy to separate them from the water that was part of her existence. Juvia was a powerful mage, and something like that wouldn't affect her so easily.

There were other things that did, however. The water mage was still somewhat distracted by that entire ordeal and really wasn't thinking straight. All she could do was continue as they were supposed to until she got of this horrible club, so she promptly threw her arms around Gray and slumped into him.

It was clear what had happened even while the thought was shaky in her mind. Though he said he'd only be doing it for the mission, he'd done it.

Gray had seduced her. Whether it had been intentional or to try and soothe her nerves, she hadn't a clue.

Still, right now she didn't want to think about what it all meant, in this wretched place where the best man she'd met was no better than Bora had been to her. She didn't want to think that this was all just for the mission. It wasn't. It couldn't be…right? But was that better or worse? She had always been so certain of herself, but the way Gray seemed to look at her like he saw right _into_ her…

Was this better or worse? Was this what she really wanted? Was this…really love?

It was obvious that they planned the setting well when nobody blinked twice as Gray threw her over his shoulder and carried her out the door. She feigned sleep while he moved her back to the boat, trying to suppress all memories of what had happened in the club. She understood circumstance; Gray had simply gotten caught up in his role…right? Even with what he'd admitted to her when had come into her home absolutely hammered, he had conveyed that he just wasn't ready. He'd confessed that he cared for her more than he showed, but that was not a love confession. It was a long wait, but she loved him like she would love no other. She couldn't simply give up something like that.

Still, in the club, Juvia hadn't had too much to drink and neither had Gray. Both of them had only had enough alcohol to set the scene properly. She could only assume that the ice mage was thinking clearly when he'd decided to kiss her. Of course she knew that it was important to make their encounter look authentic in the eyes of others from the trade gang Griffith Wing, but to kiss like that…it hadn't been necessary! Just thinking about it was making her blush!

"So, think she'll sell well?" one of the other grunts asked Gray on their way back to the boat. Juvia could only imagine that he was grinning with the suggestive tone his voice held. "I saw that little taste you got of her."

She felt Gray's grip on her tighten, but she continued to play the part of the drugged girl. He was angry, she could tell, about the man even talking about her. "Hell yeah, she's gunna sell well. Pretty virgins always do," he answered gruffly, keeping in character.

"Bet she's good with her tongue too.

Juvia's face burned and she worked hard not to react to that. Still, her heart pounded in dizzy anticpitation of what Gray might say in response to such a lewd statement like that. It was a highly inappropriate thing to think about at an important time like this as well, but with what was going on around her, it was kind of impossible to _not_ think about it.

"That's for me to know and the buyer to find out."

The other man made a disgruntled noise while the water mage breathed silently in relief, partly because Gray had not said anything bad about her skills in the tongue department and partly because he had avoided the question altogether. Then there was the part of her that was just glad neither of them were breaking character right about now.

_Gray-kun would never kiss and tell!_ she thought faithfully.

"New kid, yer gunna do well in our organization. You ever been to a trade before?" Trudeau asked, evidently convinced by Gray's acting.

"No," the ice mage responded simply. Juvia could feel how irritated her partner was. The terse answer was the hint that he didn't want to talk, but the grunt wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Yer gunna like it," Trudeau stated rather belligerently. "The girls gotta wear the outfits Suzu puts 'em in and they look all pretty an' shit. Makes those dumbasses pop a stiffie worth 30,000 jewels. Course, ain't like I'd mind having one of those bitches for m'self, but I don't want a pretty little virgin. I need one that knows what she's doin'."

Juvia couldn't even begin to describe how disgusted she was by this man. She knew that these kinds of men existed, but she hadn't ever really realized they could exist so close to her. This man lived right here in Magnolia and had absolutely no problem kidnapping an innocent girl that just went out to have a little fun. It was extremely fortunate that Gray was carrying her right now because she really wanted to inflict horrible injuries on that man. She was glad her own beloved was just as repulsed by this character as she was.

Of course, Gray a whole other work of his own, one that sent her signals that confused her and distracted her from maintaining her entire focus on the mission. Then again, she had never been really good on keeping focus on the task at hand when she had the option of thinking about the ice mage. She always found herself revelling at his brilliance.

"Hey, where should I put her?" Gray asked Trudeau, indicating that they had finally boarded the ship. She could hear the planks of the ramp beneath his feet anyhow, and she could never mistake the smell of the ocean.

"Uh…room seven is empty. I'll send Suzu to dress 'er up before she meets the boss," he answered, his thick boots thudding against the wood. He groaned loudly and Juvia could swear she could smell the reek of his breath even from where she was knocked out. "I'm gunna grab some grub. See ya later, new kid."

It was a relief when he left, taking his foul stench with him. "Gray-kun…"

"Not until we get into the room," he whispered harshly, causing her jaw to jam firmly shut. She would never be very good at undercover missions, unlike Gajeel. She had far too many emotions at the surface to do this for longer than she had to. She already wanted to destroy this entire despicable ship, but she couldn't with so many innocent girls aboard.

A door opened and shut quickly, and Juvia was finally able to stand on her own two feet again.

"The locked rooms don't have any cameras, so we're safe here," Gray told her quietly. He already looked exhausted over this entire ordeal and Juvia suddenly felt guilty for dragging him into this.

"You…didn't have to come with Juvia," she stated timidly.

"Don't start," he replied, running and hand through his hair with a sigh. "Look, we need to do this as fast as possible. I don't want you in the room with their leader for too long."

"I can protect myself," the water mage said seriously, although a part of her swooned at his concern. However, she didn't feel particularly like squealing lie she normally would, especially considering what had happened at the club.

"I know, but either way, it's dangerous. I'll start the hijack as soon as you get in there, but don't engage the guy unless it's absolutely necessary," Gray ordered sternly.

"Of course not," she answered, pouting. She wasn't exactly looking forward to being alone in a room with a man who sold innocent women and young girls. The thought rather repulsed her, but there was really nothing she could do about the encounter if the plan were to go as it was supposed to. "You'll be done quickly?"

"These guys are trained pretty well, but I shouldn't have a problem with them. I don't think I'll be too long. Anyway, I'd better go…"

As he turned to leave, she grabbed his wrist and sucked in a breath, summoning her courage. Usually Juvia was not afraid to speak her mind and ask questions, especially when it came to Gray, but the way his dark eyes glittered with reservation made her feel uneasy. She was swallowing her words rather than saying them because it was _clear_ he didn't want to have this conversation. Yet how could she possibly just let him walk away from this? Hadn't she been patient enough?

"Gray-kun—"

"I have to be clear with my intentions," he muttered to himself, cutting her off. Gently, he removed her hand from his arm and met her eyes. "Listen, what I did earlier was wrong and I shouldn't have done it, especially under these circumstances but…I didn't do anything I didn't want to." The ice mage ran a hand through his hair for a second time, though this time looking away in embarrassment. "I know I'm not being really direct right now, but I promise, this time…it's different. When this is over, I'm not going to make you wait anymore. I'm done fooling around. So just…just wait for me—at least until this mission is over. Please."

She blinked, mouth falling open in nothing more than complete astonishment. Not only was that the most honest thing Gray had ever said to her in regard to her feelings, but he had just shown her a _glimmer_ of true reciprocation. _Sober_. _By his own will._

Her vision went fuzzy for a brief moment before she managed to pull herself together and just breathe. This was actually _real_. A fantasy could never replace this. Reality was a far cry from her imagination. He was awkward, not really knowing what to say or how to say it. He was gruff and stubborn, the way his attitude shaped him. She knew him, and this was Gray in all his perfection.

Perhaps it was time for her to stop living in her imagination, especially if she wanted Gray to look at her seriously.

Juvia nodded lightly and swallowed in anxiousness, letting her hands fall to her sides as a small smile crept onto her lips. "Gray-kun, that wasn't romantic at all."

"Whatever. Let's just get this done," he replied as he moved toward the door more quickly than required, and it took her a moment to realize that he was blushing too.

"Yes, of course," Juvia agreed, now feeling a lot more terrified about this mission than she had been from the start. This was supposed to be about rescuing other girls, not about furthering her relationship with Gray. But there was no harm in being closer with each other. Reinforcement of their bond would only help them on a dangerous mission like this one.

"Be safe."

He left without another word, shutting her into the fairly accommodating room where she went to go sit on the bed. Juvia hadn't quite finished processing just what was going on with her long-time partner. Really, had she been wishing and dreaming so much that all of this was that surreal?

Her heart felt like it would burst. This…was so different than she had thought it would be. It was like she had never truly understood love in the first place. Yes, she honestly loved Gray, but to feel like she was in some sort of mutual romantic relationship was such a foreign feeling. Since when had a man she loved ever been that honest and patient with her? For the longest time, all she'd really wanted was for the man she loved to accept her feelings, but now that he might even return them, she felt strange and kind of terrified. It felt like this was what she needed all along and somehow that made the anxiety in her stomach even _worse_.

What was this? A fear of being loved in return? It didn't make sense, but now everything was becoming so real. This wasn't her imagination for once. Gray had admitted that he needed her to some degree, then he had kissed her without regret and now he was _asking her_ to wait for _him_? And the way he looked at her like he really wanted to _know_ her…all of it was new. She'd thought she knew everything there was to know about love, yet that didn't seem to be the case at all.

_Why is Juvia so unsettled?_ she asked herself, lying back on the bed. _Gray-kun is showing that he cares and I…_

He was truly trying to get to know her and that put her heart into overdrive. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted this; it was just that she had never fathomed how it would really be. What she would do and how she might react, sure, but how it would actually _be_?

It was like he was seeing into a part of her soul that she'd never known never quite known was there. He was making her strangely aware of herself and it was so unsettling. Even Gajeel, a man whom she was so close with, hadn't forced her to reconsider what she understood about herself like this. She always fantasized of sweet moments that would sweep her off her feet, but there were moments of discomfort instead, and moments of uncertainty. This wasn't a dream; this was reality and it was flawed and scary and exciting.

She breathed, placing a hand over her chest and feeling the pulse of heart as she tried to adjust to this foreign feeling. For a second, she had doubted her understanding of Gray himself, but that was wrong. He was selfless and only thinking of her. It wasn't him she'd misunderstood; it was reality itself.

To avoid rejection...you only needed your imagination...

She smiled, a sob wracking through her chest. She wasn't dreaming. She wasn't only giving all she could give. She wasn't chasing an illusion she had fed herself. She wasn't bracing herself to be let down. She wasn't.

Looking out the window where she could see the stars was cathartic. It reminded her of that night in the tent where she and Gray had truly connected, and it warmed her heart knowing that the tears falling from her eyes didn't correspond to the weather outside. Happy tears...?

Of all things, Juvia hadn't expected this mission to bring her closer to Gray or get her to confront reality, but life was full of surprises and she certainly wasn't objecting. Closing her eyes, she decided it would be nice to take a nap before the artist came to fix her up for the boss. She was going to need her sleep.

And for once, she wasn't hoping to dream.


	8. The Better One of Us

**Author's Note: **I know how long it's been. I honestly do. I've just been so busy that writing had to take a backseat (which I hate). I've been trying my hardest to get this chapter up. As such, this is hot off my notebook, so I haven't had a chance to edit it yet. I just wanted to get this chapter uploaded, so I will be fixing typos and whatnot in the next few days.

Gruvia special chapter, anyone? That one hit me right in the feels. We are nearing the climax of this story too, so look out for me to hit you in the feels as well! Be excited! I am!

Thank you for the feedback, as always. I love writing this story (though I have to say, this isn't one of my favourite chapters) and the fact that you guys still comment and wait an agonizingly long time for the next part to come out is something I appreciate deeply. So thank you again. You guys are the best.

(Edit note: It really shows that I haven't update this story for like half a year. I've tweaked chapter 7 a little bit for consistency errors. Please let me know if you find more!)

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain <strong>_by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 8 – _The Better One of Us_**

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><p>If Gray were one to confess any sort of weakness, he would definitely be admitting to himself right now that he was scared. There was about fifteen more minutes to go before the plan for this mission truly went into motion, and then Juvia was on her own. The Boss always did his evaluations of his "products" when he was alone with them, and being undercover with the crew for the last few weeks, Gray had discovered that Boss sometimes liked to keep what he was selling for himself, should he like the product enough.<p>

Of course, with Juvia, what wasn't to like? Those dark, mesmerizing eyes could turn any man into her slave in an instant if she really tried. Her hair was soft and wavy, cascading down her shoulders as though she was the water. She was fit and firm from being a fighter, but she was curvy, bountiful in all the right places and yet small enough to fit perfectly in a man's arms—his arms. Shit, he was projecting.

In any case, there was a high chance the Boss would want to keep Juvia and that would mean him putting his filthy hands and her, and if Gray didn't hijack the ship fast enough, Juvia was going to have to keep in character and go along with it. This was a decent-sized ship with no shortage of henchmen. While Gray knew he could handle taking out all the small fries, he wasn't sure how long it was going to take. Nobody was to disturb the Boss during evaluations, under any circumstance, and that room was barricaded and soundproofed. There was no telling what could go on during the time he was rescuing the kidnapped girls.

Gray...was scared, especially considering that the only other mage on this ship besides he and Juvia was the Boss himself. And Juvia was going to be alone with him.

Quietly, the ice mage patrolled the area he was in charge of, waiting for the signal that the evaluation was in session. There were red lights all over the ship; when they were on, it meant all communications to the Boss' room were shut down. Soon, that light would be on. Soon, Juvia would be on her own.

...He was a fucking idiot.

Of all nights, why had he chosen _this_ one to lose himself? He remembered tailing her with Cana all too well, and the hangover hadn't been quite what he had been expecting. He had woken up at Juvia's where all the memories came rushing back. He remembered exactly what he'd done the night before and what he had admitted to himself. Evidently, though the vodka had done its work in crushing his skull, it hadn't quite drowned his feelings or actions very well. Obviously he didn't let Juvia know that. When she so sweetly brought water for him in the morning, he pretended like he recalled nothing and she acted like nothing had happened, likely to spare his feelings though he was sure hers suffered for it.

And then tonight...he wasn't sure what had been going on with her because she seemed _meek_ when it came to him. In truth, Gray hadn't meant to go so far, but when she didn't respond to his actions to keep their cover the way he expected her to, he got a little more aggressive—probably an extremely inappropriate thing to do at the time. He'd...he'd felt like it was a challenge, and the more she seemed to withdraw, the more he wanted to bring out that side of her that had never strayed from him. Then, he had gotten _too_ into it and had let his emotions get way out of hand.

Ugh, he was ridiculous and his actions were shameful. He didn't even know how he was going to concentrate on this mission.

The truth was, this whole mission had been a bad idea. He was emotionally compromised and had been ever since that night at Fairy Hills. They hadn't even planned on going on this mission together—Juvia had been intent on taking it on her own, but Gray had plucked the mission paper straight from her hands as soon as he'd seen it. Something this dangerous, he couldn't let her do it on her own. He'd done his own part well, but not without fretting about her the entire time. He had been thoroughly distracted for this entire mission.

He would've probably murdered someone during all that time she spent establishing herself at that club had he not been there. Being there had certainly been reassuring, but it hadn't helped with him going absolutely insane watching other men hit on her or try to—Mavis forbid—_grind_ on her as she made her way through the dance floor. Gray wasn't even sure how his blood vessels had stayed intact just thinking about it. Holy shit, he could have thrown icicles up the asses of all those guys.

His thoughts were interrupted as he stood against the hallway wall. The red lights were on.

Juvia...was in that room.

Gray rushed the first anonymous henchman he saw, his only thought trying to get the women trapped aboard this ship to safety—Juvia included. The second guy came from behind him, to which the ice mage promptly put an elbow into his face before kicking him in the stomach. Honestly, goons were so pathetic these days that he almost pitied the Boss for putting his business in their hands. Well, at least the guy deserved to have his disgusting business crushed.

It took maybe ten minutes for him to crush all those henchmen on his way to the area of the ship where the girls were locked into their own rooms. He'd never been allowed the keys himself, but having held the master key for a minute was as good as having the ring on his person. Considering the doors were very steadily built, it was a fortunate thing too.

He knocked out a few more guards in his haste, yet found, surprisingly, that the most time consuming task was actually having females cry on him after he let them out of their designated "rooms". Being uncomfortable had more or less become a habit at this point. Uncomfortable with his own emotions, uncomfortable with his decisions, uncomfortable with women...yeah, people were probably dying to live his life. Loke was the one who handled uncontrollably sobbing females after they were rescued; Gray was rather familiar with the fact that consoling others was not quite a glowing talent in his skill set. He was glad to help these girls, and he was regularly pretty macho, but things got fairly awkward when they threw themselves into his arms in a fit of grateful hysteria—even the ones who were skeptical of him first.

Gray unlocked the last door, freeing the final prisoner on the ship. Her, he'd seen in his mission file. This was the sixteen-year-old girl they had been sent primarily to save. And, of course, she jumped on him.

He patted her back awkwardly, wishing she would just hurry and calm down already. Okay, it was probably sort of insensitive on his part considering kidnapping at such a young age was likely quite traumatizing for a teenager (at least, for a normal non-magical teenager who hadn't experienced something drastically scarring prior to the incident), but so long as these females were with him, they would be safe against any lackeys still loose aboard the ship. The ice mage had been out here for at least 25 minutes now, and the red light was still on. There was only so much stalling Juvia could manage.

Finally, he was able to pry the young girl from around his neck as the rest of the dozen females surrounded her in support. "Listen up, I've already cleared the area with the emergency life boats, so there shouldn't be any guards there. You guys need to get off this boat. Start paddling for the shore," he directed them as he pulled his shirt off, revealing his guild mark.

Gray saw the eyes fly to the magical stamp on his chest, an instantaneous trust suddenly building in the girls who understood what it meant. Immediately, a few of the bunch turned and started down the corridor. However, their primary subject didn't move.

"What about you?" she asked, her big brown eyes staring at him in concern. "You...you saved all of us."

...How wrong she was. He hadn't done this for them; he'd done it because he was a selfish prick. This girl's father was not rich by any means and thus the reward for completing this mission wasn't even close to reasonable considering the amount of time and energy that was put into finishing it successfully, and that wasn't even counting the risks they were taking by being on this ship. He never would have even picked up the posting when he was thinking about paying his rent, but Juvia had and her income was equivalent to his at best. She hadn't looked at the reward first—she'd looked at the lost life and dreams of a young girl and took the job to prevent that future from happening for good. Him? He had followed along to protect Juvia, and that was that. He hadn't saved anyone; Juvia had.

"I've got to get my partner out. She'd the one who really saved you all," Gray replied as his mind rushed through the routes of the ship, trying to figure out the fastest way to make it to the Boss' room.

"W-well, where is she?"

The ice mage eyed her briefly. She genuinely looked like she wanted to know for some reason. Unlike the rest of the girls, this one didn't just want to escape; she didn't want to leave anyone behind either.

"She's posing as a victim. She's in with the big Boss," he stated.

The teenager paled, her mouth dropping open and her eyes widening. She stumbled back a little, covering her mouth with her hands. "No...! You have to get her out! He'll touch her... He'll make her—"

"I'm _not_ going to let that happen," he hissed, slammed the side of his fist against the wall. He didn't want to hear the end of that sentence. Hell, he didn't even want to hear the _beginning_ of that sentence, but he had and it just reminded him that the time was counting down. They had to be coming up to at least 30 minutes by now. "Get to the life boat _now._"

Eyes full of terror, she nodded and fled after the other rescued females as Gray sprinted in the opposite direction toward the room that contained Juvia. That girl...maybe they had saved her from this place, but he realized she would never truly be the same. She was young, and being in a place like this very well could have wrecked her life, but her freedom gave her a chance. He did what he could for all those females right now; it was time to save his partner.

Six anonymous henchmen later, Gray stood in front of the room where Juvia could be suffering right now. He stood back, getting ready to kick down the door when he was abruptly thrown across the floor. He glanced up at his attacker before getting to his feet, glaring.

"Trudeau," Gray growled.

"Should'a known you weren't he real deal when you said you din' kiss an' tell," the grunt snickered.

"You know you can't win against me," the ice mage said, ignoring Trudeau's comment.

"I sure as hell can't," the other man sneered, and without another word, he threw his own body against the door.

Gray stared at him, bewildered. What the heck was this guy playing at? Trudeau was wincing even as he stood from the ground, grinning despite the self-inflicted bruises now forming on his body.

The door clicked. Zeref be damned, Gray understood.

The door swung open. A very tall, beefy man stood at the entrance, his dark brown hair sleeked back into a ponytail. He wore a tight-fitted dress shirt, on half buttoned up with some frightening tight black pants, heavy combat boots competing his disturbing outfit. And somehow, all Gray could think about was the disturbing amount of hair on the man's chest.

_Does he tease that thing or something?_ the ice mage thought incredulously.

"What the _fuck_ have I told you shits about interrupting me during assessment?"

Trudeau looked terrified, but whether it was due to what could be his impending doom or simply his Boss himself was a tossup. Gray had to give the guy credit for executing such a suicidal plan.

"B-Boss, this guy's an imposter! He's Fairy Tail!" the henchman stuttered out in fright, pointing at the sigil on Gray's chest.

The Boss' eyes narrowed, a frown on his face evident. "And you couldn't take care of him yourself? You useless sack of fat! What the hell do I pay you for?"

Gray rolled his eyes as Trudeau shrunk away. He had no idea what this man's magic was, but he wasn't about to let this guy go on in his ways.

"B-but Boss!"

"The little kitten I've got inside is Fairy Tail too. I just thought she was a challenge," the beefcake surmised to himself, looking oddly proud. "Now I know it wasn't just a coincidence. Still, though she didn't quite surrender herself to me, she was still no match for my magic, but I'll make sure I break her once I'm through with you!"

Gray snarled, dropping into a combat stance. This guy had taken down Juvia with his magic? Then this was no laughing matter. He had to be careful.

"G-Gray-kun! Juvia is so embarrassed!" a shout rang from adjacent room.

Embarrassed? Gray's eyebrow raised rather than felt his blood begin to boil. What the hell had this guy done to Juvia? "You bastard, you're gonna get yours."

"Trudeau, make sure my little Fairy kitten doesn't escape," the Boss order, smirking, "though knowing you, you'll be the one getting the shit kicked out of you."

Despite the insult, the paled man nodded and did what he was told, the door closing again behind him. Juvia would be able to handle that weakling...he hoped. Something about that room made him feel nervous.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself! I'm known as the great trader Waltz," the burly man standing in front of him announced. He cocked his head in offence at Gray's distracted response; the ice mage couldn't stop glancing back between his opponent and the door. "Worried about the kitten? Well, good. See this bracelet I've got on?" He gestured to the silver ring around his wrist. "It nullifies magical barriers...including the one that's built into my room."

Gray was getting more pissed off. That meant Juvia didn't have access to her magic while she was in there, but she was a capable fighter even without that. Still, with Waltz's magic, whatever it was, she might have been at his mercy. It certainly seemed that way. At least Trudeau was a weakling compared to any seasoned fighter.

"Shut up. I'm gunna waste you," Gray proclaimed hotly, lunging at his enemy.

Waltz moved out of the way and threw an open palm at Gray, The ice mage dodged it, kicking the man in the stomach. Not giving him any time, Gray spun to hit him with his other leg. Waltz stumbled back, yet for all the damage he'd taken, he was grinning.

_What...?_

It took him a second, but Gray took a glance down and realized that his boots were gone. Just like that, his boots had disappeared. It was a little more than strange. Taking off his shirt was pretty automatic, removing his pants sometimes mindless, but footwear was a different story. Stepping on nails or glass was nasty business, so he didn't just _lose_ his shoes.

"Confused? The easiest way to seduce a woman is to save her modesty," Waltz laughed, his chest hair shaking. "Alternatively, the best way to catch an enemy off-guard is to humiliate him."

Gray stared at him in disbelief. "Your magic makes clothes vanish?"

"With a touch if I want to," Waltz acknowledged haughtily, a hand on his waist. "With a little more effort, all it takes is the snap of my fingers."

To prove his point, Waltz snapped his fingers and Gray was left standing in the middle of the hall with only his boxer-briefs. The ice mage was so shocked by this man's powers that he could hardly process what was going on. It was just so stupid and ridiculous, and somehow, it made so much sense. Of all the sick bastards, Waltz obviously had to be the most repulsive one of all in order to rule over his underlings.

Gray simply began to laugh, and it was his opponent's turn to look surprised.

"What the hell are you laughing at, Fairy trash?" he demanded, sweat starting to show through his awkwardly tight shirt.

Gray pulled down his underwear, tossing it at the crime boss who swatted the article away in revolt. "Don't you know? I'm most comfortable when I'm stark naked." As he put the side of his fist into his palm, Gray couldn't help but grin at the absolute terror growing on Waltz's face. This was a guy who had probably seen Juvia naked, and he was going to pay for it in full.

"Think about choosing your career carefully next time, asshole," Gray advised, "because I'm about to show you what this one gets you."

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><p>The ice mage stepped over the massive bush of chest hair, grimacing as he stooped to grab the master key from the hoard. He picked up his undergarment (not that there was anything it to be under) as an afterthought, pulling them back over his legs if only for Juvia's sake. After all the nakedness she'd likely experienced today, it was probably best if he gave her a break from it. Or saved himself from her freaking out over his normally not-so-private area.<p>

The first thing he saw after opening the door was Trudeau lying unconscious on the floor, his face thoroughly bruised. Obviously the guy had never stood a chance.

"Gray-kun!" Juvia squeaked, huddled under a thin blanket on the room's bed. "I couldn't—couldn't use my magic...!"

"It's alright. The mission's complete," he reported, stepping over to Waltz's closet. As he browsed through it, he pulled out a long shirt and tossed it to his partner who was in her birthday suit, snatching a pair of tight magenta pants with a black v-neck for himself. They were what he considered to be the best of the worst wardrobe he'd ever seen, though he supposed the collection was pretty nice for a pimp.

Finally, the water mage moved from the bed, bare legs emerging from underneath the sheet. Although the shirt he'd given her reached to just below her mid-thigh, Gray found his eyes wandering just a little higher.

"Are you wearing...panties?" he asked, face hot.

"N-no," Juvia replied quickly, her voice higher than usual. Face flushed, he managed to find a pair of spandex shorts that would like be too big for her anyway, but at least they would cover the desired spot. She put them on quickly and moved over to his side. "Please, let's go. Juvia doesn't like being in here."

Gray blinked, suddenly realizing how uncomfortable she must be stuck in a room where she couldn't liquidize her body. She _was_ the water, after all. It made sense that she wouldn't feel secure fighting back, being a shier girl when it came to exposing a lot of skin (well, obviously not when it was regarding _him_). Even being undeniably void of magic, though, it would've been a mental barrier to overcome in fighting against a perverted man with a giant mass of chest hair while in the nude, but that probably wouldn't have been an issue if she'd been able to use magic.

They headed towards the emergency boats, getting on quickly and casting it into the water as Juvia summoned a vicious wave to overturn the main ship. A few minutes later, they caught up with the group of girls they'd rescued and the water mage began to ferry both boats toward the shore.

The girls sat in a huddle, hugging each other and crying while Gray lay back and let his partner do her thing. Steering a boat was something she could do pretty casually, but she was putting a lot more concentration into it than necessary.

"...Did he do anything to you?"

The boats went off-course for about half a second before they continued on as normal, but Juvia looked back at him, stunned before she grimaced, looking away. "No, but he chased Juvia around the room while Juvia was...exposed. He was toying with Juvia and it was very embarrassing..."

Gray kept his mouth shut, though his fist curled and tightened so much so that he almost broke skin. Suddenly he wished they were back on that ship so he could beat that lecher's face in even more. They hadn't been prepared for circumstance like that. Juvia had thought she was going to have her magic; she probably could've beat him even without it, but to literally be stripped of her clothes and usual physical properties? Neither of them had expected that.

Still, she didn't complain about the obviously scarring incident. He knew she wouldn't. It'd been her idea to go on the mission and she'd saved the lives of so many because of it. She did it because she wanted to.

He felt really, really dumb. He thought she didn't think of herself, that it was always about him, but he was wrong. Gray could see that now. She did things for him because it was her choice to. She didn't expect anything in return simply because doing those things for him made her happy, and that was her reward. He had been too cynical to even think it, too stubborn to believe it, and too determined to not fall in love with her. She was silly, tried way too hard and wasn't his type.

He had to stop lying to himself and operating on that false resolve. It hadn't been like that all along—definitely not at the start—but the more he understood who she was, the more his claim he didn't feel that way for her was less and less convincing. The more he thought about it, the worse it sounded. The more he interacted with her, the more he wanted to make her happy.

_...Shit, I'm probably in love with her after all._

Gray looked at the girl of his likely affections sharply, crossing his arms. "When we get back, I'm taking you out. Just us."

The boat strayed for a fraction of a second. "G-Gray-kun...?"

"I said I'm taking you out," he repeated gruffly, leaving no room for question, "and it's not a date. It's just us hanging out, so don't you dare turn this into one of your fantasies because there will be no sparkles, no hand-kissing, and I will probably strip in public."

She beamed at him, barely able to contain herself. "Juvia...wouldn't want it any other way."


	9. Love is Selfish

**Author's Note: **Fairy Tail has honestly been shredding me to pieces recently. I have too many emotions and too many things I want to write, and then this story is getting to the good parts so I've been writing like a madwoman.

I get the feeling that I lost quite a few readers after that last chapter gap, but for those of you who are still here, I hope you're still enjoying this story (and this actually pretty quick update!). Thank you for your feedback, of course!

There is a _teensy_ little reference to Rave Master in the chapter, so kudos if you catch it!

(I actually edited this, so it shouldn't be that bad this time. xD)

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><p><strong><em>You Stole the Rain<em> **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 9 – _Love is Selfish_**

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><p>It was a week after the mission when Gray finally followed through on his word that he would take her out. It had been a week, certainly, but the important part was that he stuck to his word.<p>

Juvia had never realized how it felt to be quite so elated. It was the result, in part, of being able to go on a _real_ date with the man she loved, but it was mostly because, for once, she felt loved in return.

Truth be told, though, she wasn't even sure if her feelings were requited. Gray was particularly bad at expressing his emotions, so it was hard to tell whether he really loved her or not. But he cared for her more than just a friend would and she knew that to him, she was different from everyone else.

It was a nice thought after a particularly disturbing mission. She was still trying to get over the fact that she had been involuntarily stripped of the already skimpy clothing she'd been in and then chased around the room by a man that had more hair on his chest than on his head. The worst part was feeling so helpless—scared without her magic even though she was perfectly capable at destroying an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. However, she couldn't deny how she'd panicked when she felt resistance when she'd tried to use her magic, repeatedly trying to access her reserves. Her body was water and at the moment, a barrier hadn't allowed that. It had sent her into an irrational state of mind and in the end, she had forgotten how strong she was. She was profoundly grateful that Gray was there, and, for that matter, that he hadn't asked what went wrong. He was basically fuming the whole way home instead for some unspoken reason, though she suspected it was from lingering resentment of Waltz. He'd kicked the guy's body on the way out, something she had never expected from a man like Gray. Of course, a slave trader didn't really deserve much better.

Luckily, the last few days had been normal. She hadn't been traumatized enough to let an event like that control her life, and Gray seemed to be acting perfectly like himself, so much so that she nearly thought that what occurred on that mission had never happened. Despite this, Juvia never doubted what he had said. He was a man of his word and she would trust what he'd said as such.

The only thing that had really been different this week was that she'd had to physically restrain Gajeel from going to beat up Gray after she had told him about the mission. In the end, she had been able to get her friend to let it go, but only after some extensive reasoning that her partner hadn't been able to do anything else.

If she were being honest, Juvia didn't know what to do with herself. Ever since that day, her heart felt as though it were bursting. It wasn't even the elation of the event—it was just that she couldn't stop thinking about it. She was overtaken by the beauty of the incident, seeing how much Gray cared for her. The outcome was that her head was a mess. She couldn't go on missions because her focus was so far off that she would've been hopeless against an enemy, and she found herself wanting to be alone just to think about it longer. It wasn't as though she wanted to be an introvert, and she wasn't so freakishly obsessed with Gray that she didn't want any other human contact. It was just that right now, she was just so consumed by this feeling that she didn't know what else to do. She didn't say a thing to anyone because she doubted they would understand.

Compared to others, she knew she was strange. The water mage certainly didn't know of any other person who would fall completely victim in thinking about the beauty of just one thing—certainly not for days at a time. But she didn't know how to stop it and she didn't know how to change it.

She walked into the guild, but her mind was elsewhere entirely. All she wanted to do was calm down! She couldn't do anything in this state!

"Oi."

Juvia turned to see Gray waving at her casually, his shirt already off despite the fact that it was only ten in the morning. Even seeing the person who had caused this wouldn't allow her to fully concentrate on what was in front of her, her mind was so far away.

"Good morning, Gray-kun," she greeted him politely.

"Hey," he replied, nodding. "You free today?"

_T-today?_ Her mind was reeling. Wasn't she supposed to have some time to take this all in? Evidently, he didn't think so. Spontaneity hardly seemed to catch him off guard. And, well, she supposed her thoughts were in some other dimension, so even if he had told her in advance, she wouldn't have been able to prepare herself anyhow. Today seemed as good a day as any.

"Yes," she spoke almost shyly. Responding to him under their current situation was already hard enough! How was she supposed to do this when her brain wasn't even fully functioning?

He began to laugh at her and she wasn't quite sure why until she realized how flustered she was. Her face was burning and he had barely just approached her. However, this realization didn't help her at all, her visage only heating up further from embarrassment. She didn't know how to contain her emotions at all. At least _he_ was finding it humourous.

As though he could sense her anxiety, he placed a hand on her head, snickering. "Calm down. It's not a date, okay? It's just...it's just two friends spending time together."

Despite his nonchalant attitude, he was blushing at the very notion of what he was implying. In truth, she didn't mind it either way. Calling it a "date" reminded her too much of the relationships she'd had in the past, and Juvia certainly didn't want to compare the one she had with Gray to any of those. For once, she was actually in a good place, whether it meant being someone's girlfriend or not. She just wanted to be by his side because she wanted to be there, and he wanted her to be there too. This was about having a good time with each other.

"Juvia doesn't like dates anyway," she replied earnestly. The last real one she'd gone on, her wonderful "boyfriend" at the time had left her sitting at their table all by herself as he went to go chat up another girl. The most decent one she had attended was with Lyon, and she never considered that a proper one since he had purchased it at an auction.

"Right then..." Gray answered, looking a little embarrassed. "I'll meet you back here in a hour. I need to go find my shirt."

She opened her mouth to tell him Mirajane probably picked it up during her usual morning cleaning routine, but he was off before she could get a word out.

Well, at least she wasn't the only nervous one.

She decided to spend the hour trying to distract herself by playing with her magic, wanting to avoid the stupid overwhelming feeling that was...honestly, it kind of felt like it was ruining her life. At least, today it was. She wished she could just talk about it, and then talk about it some more, and then maybe talk about it forever. It felt like this phase was never going to end. How everything had built up was simply too beautiful to ignore—she felt it in her very _soul_, when Gray looked at her on that boat back to shore.

Juvia sighed, hiding in the hallway towards the kitchen. If anyone started talking to her about Gray this morning, she was probably going to accidentally kill the poor person with her never-ending onslaught of words. How troublesome. She didn't want this to affect the time she was going to be spending with him today. There honestly weren't any expectations for today, but she still wanted all her focus to be on him. She understood how hard it had been for him to confess that she was different to him than any other girl, and she was not going to take that for granted. She was going to cherish every moment she spent with him.

With irritation, the water mage made peace with the fact that her excessive feelings were simply not going to disappear. She walked up to the guild mission board to see what she had missed in the last few days. Even if she was going absolutely crazy internally, she would do her best to give her full attention to Gray when they left today. Besides, she had no doubt that if anyone could take her mind off something, it would be him.

One of the bulletins caught her eye suddenly, Juvia snatching it off the board more from a premonition than anything. Just glancing at it, she knew it was disguised as a listing for a mage of a dark guild. It was requesting a sniper to "subdue" a target who resided in Magnolia, and the usage of a certain type of magic-nullifying bullet which ignored body-changing properties was written as a requirement. It shook her inside even though she felt she must simply be reading too deeply into it. That bullet was the kind that could penetrate corporeal magic, the kind that her body had no defence against, even in its water form.

Did this person...want someone like _her_ dead?

Simply put, she found the flyer disconcerting. She told herself it was a coincidence, that she was being paranoid because of the last traumatizing mission, but there was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that persisted.

"What kind of mission is that?" Gray asked, peeking over her shoulder as he appeared behind her.

"A concerning one," she replied thoughtfully as she bit her lip.

"A dark guild request," he observed, frowning. "I guess we'll need to keep an eye out for the next couple of weeks."

She trembled, turning to place her hand on his arm. "Gray-kun, I... I think I might be a target."

The ice mage glanced at her for a long moment before turning back to the sheet of paper. He plucked it from her hands and crumpled it in his palm. She opened her mouth to speak, but her eyes met his and she knew he understood her fear.

"It's okay. I'm with you," Gray told her, tossing the paper in a nearby trashcan, glaring at it. Of all things, he took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly. "I just...damn..."

Juvia wasn't sure what words he was grappling with, but she was grateful that he wasn't writing her off as crazy. She had these premonitions from time to time, and she couldn't say why she was so convinced that this demand for murder was meant for her. But she was scared although she didn't know why, after all this time, someone would want to have a person with _her_ type of magic dead.

"I didn't want today to be like this," her partner declared in distress.

She blinked in realization, just now remembering that they were supposed to go out today—_together._ No, she didn't want to push that away because of a fear that might not even be real. And she was strong, she kept reminding herself. There was nobody that could take her magic away from her this time, even if her enemy had something that could hurt her. She had power and she wasn't going to forget to use it.

_I mustn't be afraid of getting hurt_, she told herself. She turned to Gray, fear still pooling within her, but for a different reason entirely. _I mustn't..._

"I...still want to be with you, Gray-kun," she spoke softly, pausing for a moment before shyly adding, "today."

Her hand was still with his and he gripped her more firmly. "I don't want you to be afraid."

"Juvia will be alright with you," the water mage insisted as she shifted closer to his side. It was unintentional and it was making her blush, but he didn't seem to mind.

He nodded reluctantly, then looked at her directly. "...Alright. Just stay close to me."

He wasn't asking. Neither was she protesting. His presence was a comfort and having his fingers intertwined with her own calmed her. Even now, the effects of that mission were still haunting her. She knew she was worrying way too much over absolutely nothing. She was just grateful for Gray's endless patience, because with the amount her nerves had been frayed in the past week, she was honestly concerned she was going insane.

"Let's go get something to eat," he suggested, leading her toward the front door.

They went to a little ramen joint, sitting side by side at the bar. It certainly wasn't the first time she had eaten alone with him, but her stool had moved a little closer to his than usual. The premonition had done a stellar job at ruining her giddiness, so it was at least a bit of a relief that her mind was no longer behaving like an excited fan girl. She was relaxed beside Gray, trusting him enough to let go of her worries.

"Gray-kun, do you remember when we went on that mission to find that mushroom?" Juvia asked suddenly as she broke her chopsticks in two.

"How could I forget?" he muttered, looking about as happy as a rock at the memory. "Remind me to never strip in a forest again."

She laughed quietly while the chef placed their respective orders in front of them. "It was the same night I got to share a tent with Gray-kun. It was very nice."

He split his own eating utensil and she noticed the edges of his ears just a touch red, causing an edge of her lips to curve upwards. "...Yeah, it was."

"You told me things would be different, but I still don't understand what that means," the water mage admitted. "Gray-kun can be quite confusing."

"Oh man," he groaned as he threw a hand over his face. "I...I feel really stupid for saying that. I guess I just didn't get how you worked."

"What do you mean by that?" she pouted, poking him in the arm with her chopsticks to which he grunted a "hey!" at her.

Gray played with the noodles in his bowl for a minute as he grumbled. "I was thinking you didn't care about yourself enough," he admitted, scratching his head in embarrassment, "but like I said, I didn't really get how you worked. I get it now."

She swallowed a mouthful of noodles before turning back to him. "Oh, Gray-sama knows how I work now, does he?" she prodded him playfully.

"Oi, shut up."

Juvia laughed, but persisted. "So please, tell me what you've learned."

He shrugged in the midst of chewing before swallowing to answer. "I thought you were just a really selfless person, but you're just as selfish as any person."

She stared at him for a moment, then broke out into a giggle. If it were anyone else, she probably would have been indignant at the fact that she had been described with a word like "selfish". However, this was the man she loved and a close friend, and she simply found his directness a bit humourous. Instead of taking offense at the comment, she threw one of her own back at him. "You really don't know how to speak to a woman, Gray-kun."

The ice mage flushed. "I'm supposed to be the one talking here," he retorted, an embarrassed look upon his normally cool visage that made her smile. "You're always trying to make the people you love happy, and that's what makes _you_ happy, so you don't expect anything back, but you're still doing it for yourself. So you're selfish, just like everyone else. You're just selfish in a better way."

"I think I have admitted as much," Juvia replied thoughtfully as she thought back to when she had taken care of Gray during the night of the Spring Festival. "Juvia is never going to stop telling you, because it makes _her_ happy that you know."

He seemed to be trying to force his face back down to a colour that didn't rival Natsu's hair, but was failing miserably. "Do you make it a habit to go around repeatedly confessing to the guys you love?"

Juvia was thoroughly amused at how open he was being with her, even though he appeared horribly uncomfortable with the fact that he was, for once. If there was one thing she had to acknowledge Gray was terrible at, it was expressing his true emotions. He tended to tuck things away and deal with them on his own, leaving her to figure out what he was bottling up inside. She could read when there was something bothering him, but never exactly what. Now, he was being honest with her and putting the puzzle together for her.

He'd told her to wait for him. Even if there was never any question if she were going to or not, she had, and this was her reward.

"There has only been one man Juvia has ever loved," she told him timidly. _It's you. It always has been._ "I am a selfish woman, Gray-kun, so I'm glad you understand." Because he did. Finally. He understood that she had never been doing it all for him. She could freely admit that she was a selfish person. She wanted him to be happy so that she could be happy. She wanted him for herself. Love was her lifeline, and as long as it was in her life, she could keep breathing.

"You're happy because I think you're selfish?" Gray mused aloud, eyebrows raised.

"I'm happy that you _understand_," she repeated with more emphasis as she jabbed him again with her utensil. "Besides, everybody is a little bit selfish. There is nothing wrong with finding something to live for. I live for love, even if it does not always find me."

"You're too optimistic," the ice mage sighed, "but with the way I am, I guess that's a good thing."

"The world is beautiful when you look in the right places," Juvia insisted brightly. Gray really was a bit cynical outside the guild, but he was never one to abandon someone in need. She knew she couldn't just change that. She could, however, get him to look in a different direction and perhaps brighten his outlook a little more.

But he was looking at her, she realized, and Juvia wasn't sure what to think when he shook his head with a smirk, saying, "You're right."

* * *

><p>It wasn't a date, but Gray certainly let her have her way for the rest of the time. She dragged him shopping to buy clothes for <em>him<em>, and while he may have let out a few complaints from embarrassment, he didn't protest at all. In the end, she bought him a simple black v-neck that she kept for herself, claiming that he would lose it (which even _Gray_ admitted he probably would). She had told him she would bring it on missions in case he ever needed a shirt. He had replied semi-sarcastically that underwear was probably a bigger necessity, and she had cheerfully bought him three pairs of boxer-briefs in response, much to his chagrin.

In return, Gray had wanted to treat her for something of her choice, so she chose to get snow cones as a snack. He seemed reluctant to do so, though complied even has he grew more uncomfortable as they got closer to the stand. Juvia felt the thick tension in the air as soon as the woman working at the stand set her eyes upon Gray and the water mage stepped in front of him almost instinctively. Luckily, the worker had been civil to the both of them and they were able to leave with their treats without any drama.

"Do you know her, Gray-kun?" Juvia asked out of curiosity...and maybe a little bit out of possessiveness. There wasn't a snow cone girl in the world who was going to become Gray's "special someone".

"I used to go there a lot when I was fifteen," he explained somewhat sheepishly, a trait that didn't look quite right on him. "She liked me and I turned her down."

She breathed out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she had been holding. She always figured that someone as wonderful as Gray would have to have some old romantic relationships, but it wasn't the same as him being single _now_ and girls going after him. They weren't official, and she wasn't intent on pushing him in to anything, but she liked being the one at his side. She liked that she didn't have to share him with any other girls in the way she was hogging him now. He'd assured her that he'd stay beside her; that didn't mean her exclusively.

Yes, she was a horribly greedy person. She couldn't understand how Gray had been unable to see that until now.

"She has been selling shaved ice for five years?" the random thought came from her lips just as it hit her.

"It's a family business," Gray replied. He was eating the snow cone with delighted fervour. "Man, I haven't had one of these since she confessed to me. I'm actually glad you wanted one."

"You...you haven't gone back?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "Did you not just see how awkward that was?" Snickering, he shook his head and knocked back the rest of the dessert. "Anyway, besides that, I didn't wanna give her the wrong idea. If I kept coming back, she might've thought I was actually interested in her...or maybe she wouldn't have treated me like a normal customer. It wasn't worth it." Gray ended up glaring at the empty cup, cursing its lack of sweets. "Damn it, why do these things have to be so good?"

Juvia watched him dispose of their cups as her mind swirled. He was making her feel warm without knowing it. He always came back to her (well...it was more the other way around, but he didn't object to her presence). He hadn't rejected her either; in fact, it was the opposite. He seemed to accept her. He asked her to wait for him, and she had never thought of doing any different.

_"I just...need you more than I say."_

Gray had been absolutely drunk out of his mind when he had said that to her, so she had done her best not to take it seriously. Right now, though, it felt like the words were true. Maybe...the words _were_ true. The things he said to her, his actions...they showed it more. She believed his love for her was there.

A few months ago, she probably would've looked at the girl at the snow cone stand with murderous intent. Things were different now. If not anything else, she knew she was his constant; he would always come back to her, no matter what. She had never believed that as much as she had now.

It was out of pure luck that she saw the innocuous magical beam pointed at his back. There was no time for a warning as she sent out her magic to be her eyes and ears. Gray's magic could shield them both if he could summon it in time, but that wasn't realistic at all. There was no other option to keep him safe. She had been foolish, thinking she was the target. No, those bullets were for the both of them. Someone was looking for revenge. Juvia didn't know who; it could be anyone since they were always on missions together, but she knew she couldn't let anyone hurt Gray.

As he returned from the trashcan, Juvia abruptly flew into his arms, pulling him into a tight embrace that caused Gray to stumble back where they had some cover from trees. She vaguely heard the bag of clothing tumble to the ground next to them. As long as she had stalled the assassin for another few seconds, everything would be fine. Juvia was going to make sure that their hunter didn't get both of them.

She felt Gray freeze in her hold for a moment before he slowly placed a hand behind her head, the other cradling her back. The water mage was blushing from her own boldness, but she couldn't help but want to hug him, for both love and his safety. In her mind, there was no choice. In his arms, she was calm.

"Hey, what's going on?" Gray prodded her softly and she found it immensely difficult to keep her emotions at bay. It was his fault. Entirely his fault. Had had transformed her day into something so wonderful without even trying and now he was making her heart explode. This whole situation was such a strange mixture of happiness and horror that she wanted to burst into tears, although from what, she wasn't sure.

"I...just want to thank you," she spoke against his neck. And as she held him, she was glad nothing was holding her back, because she knew what was going to happen next.

"I love you, Gray-sama," Juvia told him, a sad smile on her lips as she held him closer. The suffix slipped out of her on instinct, because she had always looked up to him, always admired him, and always respected him above everyone. Now was the time. The vapour floating in the air from her body burst and she knew it was time.

"Juvi—"

The rest of his words were swallowed by her body as she let her magic flow. He fell through her just before she felt pain rip through her chest. It spread first into her arms and down into her fingers, then slowly into her stomach. A second later, she was cold on the ground, but she heard Gray yell out a spell and she was relieved. She had taken the target on his back and he was going to be alright.

There was nothing wrong with the cold. It reminded her of Gray and she found solace in the feeling of him. So as her consciousness faded away, she was okay.

She was happy.


	10. Head Rush

**Author's Note:** Why, hello! Dearest readers, your anguished comments on the last chapter are things I hold close to my cruel heart, so thank you very much for leaving them. I have a feeling some people might find this chapter a little OOC, and I apologize if that's the case. This is my perspective with Gray's character in my own story and it's gonna happen that way.

_Things to remember going into this chapter and the next couple:_

Foreshadowing

This entire fic was outlined at least a year ago

Learning lessons is part of life

And with those cryptic messages out of the way, please enjoy the chapter!

* * *

><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong> _by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 10 – _Head Rush_ **

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><p>It happened so quickly that he hardly had time to figure out what was going on. Gray hit the ground in a daze, but when he turned and saw the blood spatter on the ground, he instinctively threw up a shield. It burned through his magic like a hot knife through butter, but it slowed the bullet down enough for him to spot where it was coming from and toss himself to the side in an act of self-preservation.<p>

He swallowed as he spotted Juvia's body on the ground. It wasn't random blood spatter he'd seen; it was _hers_. The ice mage forced himself to summon another shield, dodging the next magical shot that came his way. He had to concentrate on the battle even though every part of his being was screaming at him to go help his partner. The pool of blood was getting bigger and he was running out of time, but reason managed to keep him focused on the task at hand. He wasn't going to help her if he was dead.

His mind raced to process what he was up against. Magical nullifying bullets; they sliced right through any sort of corporeal magic, and in the hands of a good sniper, which he was sure this guy was, they were a deadly combination. However, they were also absurdly expensive, meaning whoever was doing this had a pretty penny or the person who had hired the sniper to do this had a hefty change purse. Juvia hadn't been imagining things at all when she saw that job posting, though he hadn't doubted her in the first place.

But...he should've been more careful.

The ice mage cursed himself for getting distracted when another bullet came through his shield and narrowly missed his torso. He had to think about this later. The more time he wasted, the longer Juvia was going to be bleeding out.

He had to find where the shooter was camping, but he couldn't get a good angle on the shot since he kept having to _run away_ from the attack. He dove, avoiding another fatal shot as he smashed the side of his fist against his hand. Gray continued in his path as he left a clone of himself behind, ducking low to see where the bullets were coming from. This assassin just had to take the bait. Whoever was sitting up in those trees did and the ice mage turned just in time to see it.

He followed the path of the bullet with his eyes and the hooded assassin also seemed to realize this. The man was well hidden and only the gun he was using was exposed, but it was enough to see its movement. He was slinging it behind his back to escape now that he realized his cover had been blown.

Like hell Gray was going to let him.

"Ice Make," he growled, his eyes pinned on the shadowy figure who had fallen his partner as he slammed his hands onto the ground, "Surface."

His magic spread out in a concentrated blast toward the assassin, then spiralled out in a thick sheet of ice that covered a massive area. It was significantly more magic than he had intended to unleash, but he was pissed off and that was the end result. If anything, it had the desired outcome. The assassin slipped on a branch and would've landed gracefully if the ground hadn't also been covered in ice. Gray finally closed the distance between them and it almost seemed like an unfair fight when the assassin saw Gray and attempted to bring the gun forward again while fighting to keep his balance. It was an unwise decision.

"Should've picked one and stuck with it, bastard!" the ice mage shouted furiously as he decked the assassin so hard, the impact sent the man flying meters back. His opponent stilled and Gray took a moment to steady his breathing before his mind sharply flooded him with thoughts of Juvia.

He rushed over to her, his heart racing. If there were ever a time he had panicked, it didn't even compare to this moment. Now that the rush of battle was over, reality was sinking in and he felt like puking when he saw the amount of blood she was lying in. The shot went right through her chest and he was too shaky to even tell if she was still breathing.

"Shit, shit, shit, you're not allowed to leave me right now," he commanded, voice trembling as his hands hovered over her.

Gray had seen his comrades injured in battle a million times, sometimes even fatally, but this...he didn't even know how to start. Her blue combat dress was drenched in blood all around the torso and he was almost afraid to touch her. He was unsure of himself for another moment, then ripped off his shirt and stuffed it against the open wound while he looked around frantically. He needed help. Mavis, he needed help.

He couldn't just move her while she was bleeding like this. Hell, could he move her _at all_ without hurting her more? He knew he couldn't just sit here and keep her from trying to bleed out. Swallowing, he removed the cloth.

Placing his shaking hands on her chest, something that might make him blush were the situation not so dire, and tried to ignore the slick blood that was staining his hands. He had to concentrate. He couldn't be careless with something as fragile as a human body—especially Juvia's. No matter what kind of magic she had, she was still flesh and bones like the rest of them. Not...every object simply went through her with ease.

Gray bit his lip in nervousness. He had done this a million times, but never on a human. Juvia with her magic form, yes, but Juvia as just a physical being like everyone else, no. He was pretty sure that he knew exactly the size of what he needed to freeze over, but even then, there was no guarantee that her blood wouldn't just melt his magic eventually and she would bleed out anyway. There was no guarantee that the image of the ice formation was correct, even though he was always confident when it came to formation. He knew every aspect of an object that he held in his hands, and he had never been unsure about it since he had mastered the magic of Ice Make.

At least...not until now.

But there was no time to hesitate. She was dead anyway if he didn't do anything, and...and...she wasn't going to die. It made him sick to even think about it.

"Don't you dare die on me," he hissed as he froze the blood over her wound, then tucked his hand underneath her to find where the bullet had come out on the other side and froze that shut too. He rose slowly with Juvia in his arms. He had to move quickly and smoothly; his makeshift bandage for her would only last for so long and he didn't want to jostle her any more than he had to, but he needed to get her back to the guild. He was reminding himself that she was strong, that she had already survived so much despite the odds, yet there was a fear inside of him that simply wouldn't be denied.

Gray was silent as he walked. He wasn't going to confess his undying love or something in the midst of his fears, because that would be like validating that it was okay for her to go. It wasn't okay. It was _far_ from okay. He wasn't going to just give her what she wanted. If she wanted to hear those words, she had to earn it by staying alive.

"Don't you dare die on me," he said, offering her the same words as he had earlier. Right now, that was all he could say to her.

He only hoped she was listening.

* * *

><p>Gray kicked the door open hard enough that it swung on its hinges and hit with wall with a thud. The entirety of the people in the guild hall were staring at him with stunned faces, but he didn't have time to watch them gawk.<p>

"Someone get Wendy _right now_," he said lowly. He felt blood leaking down his arms and he knew the wound he had frozen shut had opened again.

"I'm here!" the young dragon slayer announced herself, rushing forward. When she was close enough, a glance down at the woman in his arms was enough to make her gasp and back off for a moment, covering her mouth in shock. He gave her another moment to gather herself, the girl swallowing audibly before she met his eyes with a determined stare. "Let's hurry to the infirmary."

If he'd developed any sort of memory for the trip back to the guild, it was lost. He didn't remember anything. This was the most frightened he'd been in his life because all he could think was that Juvia was _dying_. She could've already been dead in his arms for all he knew, considering how much he was shaking. He wouldn't have even known. Of course he denied this fact. He denied it over and over again, yet the dark thoughts wouldn't leave him alone and it was impossible for him to do anything other than hope.

It was still sinking in when he placed her on the bed, sounds of Wendy running around the room like a distant voice in his ears. Juvia's body stained the sheets red as soon as he put her down and the contrast of the colours made him feel numb. He didn't know what to think anymore. His head was a mess. Her face wasn't supposed to be so pale it almost mirrored the white sheets she'd bled on. It was sick. _He_ felt sick.

Just as he felt the bile coming up his throat, someone behind him grasped his arm. Gray suppressed the feeling and turned to see Erza standing there, the Strauss sisters shuffling in behind to assist the young dragon slayer.

"Hey. I saw you and Wendy heading in here so I followed. Wendy needs space to do what she needs to. Let's go outside and talk," she told him, eyes hard and not leaving any room for argument. He almost wanted to shove her aside and tell her that there was no way in hell that he was leaving Juvia's side, but...

Cana's words came back into his mind, twisted. _"What right do you have?"_ He didn't have any rights when it came to Juvia. He'd treated her feelings like shit for the longest time. He was jealous when other men looked at her even though he refused to return her feelings. He might be the man that she loved, but that was no claim over anything. He hadn't given anything back. Nothing. Her lying there and bleeding out was a sign that he couldn't even protect her. He was worthless. His love for her was worthless, because all he'd done with it was pretend that it didn't exist.

"Gray," Erza interrupted his thoughts sharply. His head snapped up, having forgotten what he was even in the midst of doing.

"R-right," he breathed as he followed her out the door. It broke him to leave her there, but in truth, she followed him, her heart-wrenching image engraved into his mind. It was haunting, just like how he carried the ghosts of those he cared for since the day of their deaths. Her picture was always going to be with him, and it would be the image of her dying, not smiling and full of optimism like she really was. He had failed...to protect that smile.

"What happened?" Erza asked after they had exited the infirmary.

"Someone was hunting us. The man who-who shot Juvia...he was hired," the ice mage replied, still shaky from the memory. "He had magic-nullifying bullets."

Alarmed, the ex-quipper grasped him by the shoulder. "Well, I'm glad at least one of you is okay. Where is he?"

Gray had to think for a moment, completely forgetting he had just left their attacker there. Getting help for Juvia really seemed more important than taking the enemy prisoner, but making sure they captured the man who nearly murdered their guild mate for money was pretty important too. "I knocked him out. I don't know if he'll still be there or not."

She nodded and folded her arms. "Alright then. Show me where you two were and I'll see if I can pick him up," Erza stated as she walked toward the foyer of the guild hall. "I'll grab a map of the town. You should clean up."

She was walking away before he could get another word out, and he momentarily recalled how good Erza was at getting anyone younger than her to do what she wanted as their "big sister", whether it be through threat or subtle manipulation. At least she had good intentions, which was why he headed to the nearest washroom in consideration of her advice.

He was pretty sure the mirror was lying when he first caught a glimpse of himself after walking into the men's room. The man staring back looked like a wreck, weary eyes, blood-soaked hair sleeked back, arms red and sticky. Gray looked down at his hands and realized exactly how much blood was actually _on_ him, and it chilled him to the bone to know that it was _Juvia's_ blood and not his own. Within a second, he found that he was shaking again, and the ice mage knew that there was nothing he could do to make it stop.

It took two tries to turn on the faucet, his mind elsewhere as he busied himself with familiar motions. He had been the first target; that much was clear. Maybe there had been someone trying to attack both of them, but she was the one who was supposed to have been in his place right now. If she hadn't pulled him out of the way...if she hadn't taken that shot for herself...

His brain bounced back between her words and the state she was currently in. She had _known_ there wasn't enough time to save them both and she had chosen to save him. But...that was the way Juvia was. She was always thinking of him, even if it was in a selfish way. People were always protecting him, her especially. And now she was paying for it, just like everyone else who had done the same before her.

The water turned pink as it went down the drain, washing the stickiness out of his hair before he tore off his shirt and tossed it into the sink. It was a lost cause, and after a moment of soaking it, Gray was fed up with looking at it and threw it into the garbage can instead. He was a fountain of red and he didn't want anything to do with that colour anymore.

Gray wasn't feeling any better when he left the washroom, still feeling numb and angry. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel right now. Everything was his fault. Everything. Today was supposed to have been a good day, a cheerful day—one he would look back on and smile at. He was supposed to have admitted to her that his feelings had turned into more than just friendship because they _had_ and he couldn't lie anymore. Instead he had failed to protect her from something she had seen coming. He hadn't brushed off her premonition either; he'd just thought that everything would be fine so long as they were together. They had never lost a battle side-by-side and as a result, he had let his guard down. He was the one who was supposed to be lying in that bed. In fact, he would have preferred it that way by far. He couldn't stand thinking about losing her. Not for anything. Not for anyone, even himself.

"Gray," Erza's voice snapped him out of his reverie. She rounded the corner with a roll of paper tucked under her arm, pulling it out and pressing it flat against the wall. "Show me."

If one thing was certain, it was that his brain was working slowly. He and Juvia hadn't been so far from the location of the snow cone stand that he had been unable to vocalize where they had been, but that thought only occurred to him now and it was a little late to be concerned with the fact that he'd been too distracted to tell Erza. There was far too much on his mind to even care.

Gray tried to focus on the map, dragging his finger across the surface. He traced the route they'd walked earlier, reliving the day's events. He knew he could've just found the spot immediately, but he wanted to remind himself of everything else. It was a morbid way to use his memories, but Gray felt like it was only right that he remembered exactly what he could lose. He had to remember. It was time to protect her with everything he had.

"Here," he replied, voice steadier than he was feeling. The location he pointed to was south of the stand where they had picked up the snow cones, just outside the town. The ice mage suddenly realized how stupid he was to have brought Juvia there when she was afraid someone was hunting her. The edge of town was a desolate place flanked by trees, a perfect area for an assassin to his job without witnesses. Still, even in the face of his mistake, he swallowed his shame. There was no time to be wallowing in possibilities when Juvia could die.

Erza nodded before letting the map roll back. "I'll get him myself, and I'll bring Natsu to track him if I need to."

He was reluctant to let her go without him, but the look on her face left no room for argument. There was no denying how much he wanted to pound that assassin's face in again, but even Gray knew how much of a liability he'd be in a fight right now. Besides that, he wanted to stay close to Juvia. Leaving her wasn't an option.

"Fine," Gray finally spoke in agreement. The desire to do something rather than wait was still tugging at him, but he suppressed the feeling.

"...Don't do anything stupid."

They were supposed to be words that were helpful, maybe, but at this point, he thought he couldn't possibly do anything more stupid than walking into a perfect location to be ambushed. Too bad that had already happened. Letting out a bitter chuckle, he simply nodded before Erza turned to leave.

His first instinct was to return to the infirmary, so he did. The door was firmly shut still, a sign that his presence inside wasn't wanted. He let his back fall against the wall as he slid down onto the floor, burying his face in his hands. He wasn't sure what was worse: the waiting or his memories. Both of them together were leaving him a wreck. No choice but to wait, and no choice but to remember.

Gray was staring at the wall into nothingness, but his thoughts were all of _her. _The thought of Juvia just not being around was too overwhelming to handle, and it was his own fault that he even had to consider it right now. More than ever, he hated himself for everything. If had been more careful, if he had just told her his feelings, if he hadn't brought her out in the first place...

"Well, don't just sit here moping and blaming yourself."

The voice that reprimanded him wasn't overly critical, but it irritated him enough to look up and glare. For every right that he didn't have with Juvia, he definitely had just as many that allowed him to throw a self-pity party. Nobody was about to take that away from him. He already felt terrible; he just felt like he should be feeling worse.

"Honestly," Cana groaned as she hovered above him. She sighed before she sat down next to him, drawing her knees up to her chest. "You need to stop thinking these things are your fault. They happen."

"They happen because people care about me," Gray retorted bitterly. "You know she took that bullet for me? _I'm_ supposed to be the one lying in that bed, not her."

"How does that make anything better? We'd all still be worrying about one of you," she countered, much to his annoyance. He didn't want anyone to be playing devil's advocate at the moment. He just wanted to hate himself and leave it at that.

"It makes everything better," the ice mage grumbled in defiance. "At least then, I'd know she was okay."

Cana growled. "Do I need to punch some sense into you?"

"Leave me alone."

In any case, Cana probably would've decked him good, but Lisanna (fortunately for him, although he really couldn't care less right now if someone were to be pounding the crap out of him) chose that moment to peek her head out the door. Cana didn't have enough time to follow through on her offer as he jumped to his feet to see what news the younger Strauss sister brought.

"What's happening?" he asked Lisanna, trying not to let the urgency he was feeling show in his voice. He just wanted to know if she was okay. _He just wanted to know._ Cana stood up after him, crossing her arms as they both anticipated the update.

"Wendy was able to decompress and repair her lung with magic. Still, there was a lot of haemorrhaging, so she's not doing well. Wendy's no doctor, but she's sure Juvia is going to pull through just as soon as we can do a blood transfusion, so we need to get someone in the guild who has—"

He shot his arm out abruptly, flashing his cubital fossa. "Hook me up."

Lisanna looked at him hesitantly. "Um, Gray, I haven't even told you what her blood type is."

"Doesn't matter," the ice mage dismissed her concern without wasting any words. "I'm type O. Just do it." If he had the chance to help Juvia in any way, he was going to do it without question. The waiting had driven him mad. At this point, he would rip out his own kidney if someone said it would save her.

Slowly, Lisanna nodded. "Okay. I'll let Mira-nee know. She'll be the one handling this with Wendy until Porlyusica-san gets here."

As Lisanna disappeared behind the door again, Cana grasped his arm. "Gray—"

"Not right now, Cana," he grunted, roughly pulling away from her. He knew exactly what she was going to say and he didn't want to hear it. _"Stop blaming yourself. This is not your fault." _He was hearing it already.

"You have time to stop and listen, jackass! Lisanna's not even back yet!" Cana expressed in frustration. She shook her head and shoved him in the shoulder, trying to get her point across. "Mavis help you, Gray, because you might be able to save her life, but with the way you _are_, you're going to do something that'll break her heart, and for Juvia, that's _worse._"

"Just shut up!" he snarled back at her, blood boiling. "Do you think you know everything? You weren't there when she went down. I _was_. She is _dying_ in there, Cana, and I think that's a little more important than you lecturing me about guilt!"

The card mage snickered, then looked away. "You know what? Fine. I can see that you're not going to listen to me, and I really don't care," she told him, "but as much as you're my friend, Juvia is too, and if you end up losing her because of your own stupid mistakes, I won't be there to help you."

Gray felt self-satisfied and like a complete scumbag when he watched Cana storm off. It was true that he hadn't been listening to her, and it was also true that he just wanted her to go away, but none of it made him feel any better. He just wanted to see Juvia alive and breathing, not looking like a piece of porcelain on a bed of ivory. Nothing else was going to change how he was feeling right now. He needed to see her okay, so he didn't have to picture a world without her. He _couldn't _imagine what the world would be like without her there to follow him around, doting on him with her shy smile and dark eyes. He couldn't imagine not being able to think she was crazy with her outrageous requests of him and wild fantasies. He couldn't imagine her being just his past, not his present and future. She was not allowed to just become an image in his mind, eroded by time.

_Juvia..._

He was barely able to blink back the tears when Lisanna stepped out of the infirmary again. Of all things, he didn't know why he cared if anyone saw him crying at this point. Gray was a person who was rather protective of his emotions, but his mind was too preoccupied with other things to consciously hold back from showing them. Nevertheless, his eyes brimmed with salty water and he refused to let it fall, out of habit if nothing else.

"Everything's set up. You can come in now," the youngest Strauss told him, widening the crack in the door.

Gray nodded, though was almost reluctant in stepping through. He'd be lying if he said that, despite Lisanna's status report, there wasn't fear gripping his heart. How certain could he be that she was alright until he saw her for himself? And how could he see her himself if he was too afraid to walk through the door?

He strode past the threshold without another thought and steeled himself before setting his eyes on her. She was still pale and he could see well enough how shallow her breaths were, but she was breathing and that was the important part. Part of him relaxed a little now that he knew for certain that she was alive. He could see Mirajane in the middle of preparing the needle and Lisanna moved past him to begin prepping the bed adjacent to Juvia's.

"Wait," Gray interrupted her as he approached the water mage he could no longer deny his feelings for. He reached down and curled his fingers into hers. She...was colder than he was used to, like she had bled away the warmth she normally held. For once, the cold was nothing comforting to him and all he wanted to do was hold her until that familiar warmth was in his arms again.

He didn't bother turning around. "Is it alright if...I stay next to her?"

Instead of answering, Lisanna simply walked around to the other side of the bed, putting her arms under the unconscious patient and pulling her a little to the side, just enough that the vacant side of the bed would be comfortable enough for another person to fit.

"Why don't you lie down?" she suggested once she was done adjusting the sheets, the smile she was offering him sympathetic and comprehensive. "Nee-san's almost done."

So he did, kicking off his boots before climbing into the infirmary bed next to Juvia and weaving his right hand into her left. As if on cue, Mirajane appeared to administer the needle into his free arm, but he hardly noticed it with his head turned to the side to stare at Juvia. The process was done in fifteen minutes and only another few passed before Wendy and Mira were on the opposite side of the bed, putting the IV into Juvia. He rolled onto his side and pulled their intertwined hands up to his chest, never taking his eyes off her. Porlyusica came and went, checking on Juvia and discussing some things with Wendy and Mirajane that Gray didn't care to listen to. Eventually, the room grew quiet and void of any others in the guild, besides the odd check-in every hour. He didn't say a word as he watched her, pale skin gradually turning rosy again, breaths becoming deeper, hand feeling warmer.

She was going to be okay. He could see it and he could feel it, and now that the room was bereft of others, he allowed the hot tears he had denied earlier to flow freely. The relief was cathartic, and so was the crying as he silently wept into the sheets of the bed.

Mavis, he had been so afraid. If he hadn't been able to save her—if they hadn't been able to save her...

"Damn it, I'm sorry," he whispered to her, because everything was his fault. She'd been afraid herself, and he brought her to the worst place possible. She even took the shot for him.

Gray had finally been able to admit it to himself, but it wasn't until now that he knew how certain he was of his own feelings. He was in love with Juvia, and the only thing worse or more painful than seeing her almost die for him would have been if she _had_ died for him. That was not allowed to happen. Ever.

But right now, the exhaustion of the day was catching up with him and hearing the soft sound of her breathing was a beautiful melody. His eyelids drooped and Gray knew that he wasn't going to be able to stay awake any longer. However, falling asleep next to her didn't seem like the nightmarish prospect he used to think it would be.

"I'll see you in the morning," he promised her, lightly kissing her shoulder and meaning every word he said.

Tomorrow, he thought, that maybe the sun would look a little brighter in the sky waking up with Juvia beside him.


	11. Overcast

**Author's Note: **Why hello there, readers! Thank you so much for all your reviews of hysteria! It brings my heart joy that I can provide you with the feels you so desire for these characters. I was surprised by all the people who were freaking out about Juvia's state, since I thought the end of the chapter indicated the direction she was going in. Oh well. In any case, this will resolve that.

(PS. Whoever thought I hadn't updated in two and a half years, I really hope you noticed you were looking at the publishing date, because I am horrible at updating, but not that horrible.)

By the way, we should also all provide hugs for Gray and his situation in the manga right now. After doing so, proceed to enjoy this chapter.

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><p><strong><em>You Stole the Rain<em> **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 11 – _Overcast_**

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><p>To say his sleep had been restful would have been a blatant lie. Gray woke up with a crusty, disgusting feeling in his eyes and it took a moment to register that it was probably the result of last night's crying. He used his free hand to wipe away the feeling and destroy any evidence of previously existing tears. Just because they had been there didn't mean he wanted anyone to see. Or know.<p>

At the very least, it was comforting to see how much more lively Juvia looked, even if she was still asleep. He still distinctly remember how cold she had been, a reflection of the pale hue of her skin. Her hand had remained in his throughout the night as well and Gray was finding that the point of contact was now more sweaty than anything. It was a good sign that she was warm again, but it was getting a little gross, so he let go. He turned onto his back and flexed his hand into a fist a couple of times to rid himself of the stiffness in his joints.

Staring up at the ceiling, he briefly wondered what the heck he was even doing. Gray knew he shouldn't be here, and any reason he could come up with was for his own benefit. He needed to feel the reassurance that she was alive. He needed to quell his fear. It was such a selfish reason, like everything else had been so far. Why couldn't he just do something for her? Why was he always so caught up in himself?

The door opened and the ice mage shot up abruptly, face flushed. Now that the night had passed and he knew Juvia was going to be okay, things felt a little more normal. Rational thought told him how this would look to someone who walked in and saw him, and while that wouldn't have bothered him in the slightest last night, it definitely did now. At this point, it almost seemed like a stupid thing to worry about, considering there were at least four different people who had seen him lying next to Juvia holding her hand last night, but disregarding that just felt like the natural thing to do.

"Morning," Lisanna greeted him with a smile. Though he was still sitting in Juvia's bed looking like a child who'd been caught stealing a kiss from a pretty sleeping maiden, she had the decency not to make any remarks or shoot him teasing suggestive looks.

"Hey," he responded, staring at the ground.

"Erza said you might want to know that she found the guy," the youngest Strauss said, dropping it so casually that Gray almost missed it in his embarrassment. His mind only took a moment to process it, pulling himself out of bed a second later and shoving on his boots.

"Where is he?" Gray demanded.

"Well, we don't really have a room to keep people, so Erza just put him in the supply closet and—"

He didn't bother waiting for the rest of her sentence. There were only two things he wanted to accomplish right now: beating the shit out of this mercenary and beating the shit out of the person who sent him. And one of the two was within arm's reach.

Gray was out the door of the infirmary without wasting another second. The walk down the corridor was a blur, brushing past friendly faces and making his way to the supply closet with no interruption. He needed to see this guy. He needed to see this man again for himself. There was an urgency inside him that just _screamed_ for blood, and he was happy to go get it.

Erza was the one standing in front of the door, quite obviously since she had been the one to tell Lisanna to come get him, but she wasn't standing guard so much as casually loitering by the closet. When she spotted him, she moved to block his path.

"I didn't let Lisanna tell you so you could come and confront him yourself," Erza told him, arms crossed. She was like an older sister to him, but right now all he could see was a roadblock. "I know that look, Gray. Nothing is going to turn out well if you're doing these things with a hot head."

"I'm not doing anything for me," he responded steadily, levelling his gaze at her, "I'm doing it for her."

It was no lie. He was done putting himself before Juvia, but he needed to find out who had wanted to hurt her and this was the only way to do it. She was always thinking of him, and maybe it was time to make it the other way around. Today was about her. His mind was never going to leave her. He was going to protect her the way he failed to yesterday.

"If you're that set on this, it would be pointless to stop you," Erza sighed, moving aside.

Gray faltered for a moment, finding it odd that Erza would let him have his way so easily. Normally, she would strong-arm him into "doing the right thing", which was whatever Erza's way was, which was generally highly by the book. That she wasn't doing so made him uneasy, but he brushed away the feeling. He would figure it out later. For now, it was time to deal with that tool who had nearly killed one of his best friends.

He threw the door of the supply closet open and felt his blood immediately jump to boiling point as soon as he confirmed with his own eyes that this was indeed the assassin who had been sent to do the dirty work. The ice mage briefly grasped for self-control, but he relinquished it a moment later. He wasn't going to hold back for a piece of scum like this one.

The assassin was sitting on a chair in the broom closet, hands chained behind his back. As far as appearances went, Gray really didn't care what the guy looked like. He simply stormed over as calmly as he possibly could, grabbed the front of the assassin's cloak, and threw him against the wall, splintering the chair. Mira wasn't going to be pleased.

He confronted the battered heap on the floor, indifferent to any destruction he'd just caused. "You know who I am. I'm the guy who knocked you out in one hit, and if I hit you as hard as I intended to, I'm sure the ground's given you a concussion too."

Silence.

"I don't give a damn who you are. I just want to know who sent you."

The silence continued.

"I might hit you again."

Still nothing.

"Good. Maybe I want to hit you again."

Just as he was about to move forward, when a firm hand held onto his shoulder. He looked back, eyes blazing, only to see Erza preventing him from moving any further. Why was she blatantly contradicting what she had said earlier? Why was she stopping him?

"Master's orders," she explained as if she had read his mind. "Besides, we found the mission request and Levy looked into it. We think we already know who hired him."

Gray's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"A notorious slave trader named Waltz."

His eyes widened at the name and his arms went limp, legs stumbling back as Erza steadied him. It had barely been a week since they'd liberated those girls from that slave ship, barely a week that he'd defeated some creep with the magic of clothing removal and left the guy in his pathetic existence to perish on a drifting ship. But Waltz clearly hadn't perished and instead did his best for revenge.

_I should have killed him. I should have killed that fucking bastard._

Gray allowed Erza to drag him from the closet and shut the door behind them. "I know you want to go after him, but Master wants you to stay here."

"_What?_" he demanded furiously. Fairy Tail knew how to forgive, but they were also very good at getting even. He couldn't recall a time where someone was forced to stay back from a mission because the main motive was to get revenge. There were sappy stories everywhere about how revenge didn't solve anything, but that was an ignorant thought; revenge was _sweet_. If anyone hurt a member of the Fairy Tail family, the rest of the family was going after the culprit. The deeper the emotion burned, the better suited you were to get the job done.

Apparently, not in his case. He was reeling in resentment. Natsu had gone after every person who'd ever ticked him off. Hell, he'd burst into a council hearing before! Why was Gray being denied a right everyone else seemed to have?

"No, I'm going," Gray stated in defiance. Yesterday, he had willingly stayed behind because he'd been broken. He wasn't broken anymore; he was just angry, and he wanted to take it out on someone.

"You're not," a booming voice corrected him.

Makarov had initially sent Erza to stop him, but it looked like Master had come to finish this off himself. Gray just didn't understand and his head was running in circles. His body was shaking and he was about ready to wreck everything in his path.

"_Why?_" he growled, his breathing deep and heavy.

The Master's face was stern, like he was a teacher reprimanding his student. Gray was unused to having such an expression directed at him, and normally, he would appreciate taking a lesson from his superior, but right now, the situation was just pissing him off. He didn't need this. This was just keeping him from getting either of the two things he wanted.

His eyes darted to the side for a moment, gathering himself as he attempted to slow his breathing. He had to remember what he'd promised he was going to do today: protect Juvia. Mavis help him if he failed to do so again.

"You know as well as I do that at present time, you have no self-control," Makarov answered. "If you're out for blood, you need focus, not irrationality."

No self-control? Gray wanted to laugh. How in Earthland did he not have any self-control? He had plenty of control when he decided he wasn't going to do anything about Juvia's feelings. He had tons of self-control when he brought Juvia to a playground for assassins. He was _completely_ in control when she sacrificed herself to save him. And what had any of that accomplished? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Control was overrated when his decisions just led to the suffering of someone he loved.

Erza seemed to sense his hesitance as she approached him again. "Listen, I was trying to let you blow off some steam before—I wanted revenge too—but these are Master's orders now. Even if you don't want to follow them, you should stay here. I talked to Wendy earlier and she told me that Juvia should wake up in a few hours. You know the first person she'll ask for."

Yes, he did know. And with that, he backed down, not bothering to acknowledge Makarov or Erza's explanation before he rushed out of the hall. He couldn't get out of there fast enough. Last night had been all about the fear that Juvia wouldn't pull through, but now that she was okay, all he felt was anger. He wanted to take it out on the hired assassin. He wanted to take it out on Waltz. He wanted to scream at Juvia that she was crazy for wanting to wake up to his stupid face.

The reality of how close he had come to losing her was sinking in, and it was infuriating that she had done it for _him_. Gray didn't want anybody to save his life at the cost of their own, least of all someone who deserved the world and more. He knew exactly why he was so angry; he had been powerless to stop it. The morning just proved what a mess he was, and he had to fix that. He had to fix it by doing what he could for her because he hadn't been able to do anything for her yesterday.

Circles, circles. That was the only place his mind was going, and he wasn't dense enough to continue on without realizing that. Given that he was prohibited from doing the two cathartic things he wanted to accomplish today, Gray quietly made his way back to the infirmary, this time setting himself down in the chair next to her bed instead of getting in it himself. No doubt, even with all the conflicted feelings he was having right now, it would be downright embarrassing and highly difficult to explain if Juvia were to wake up and find him lying next to her—even if that was what he preferred to be doing at the moment. He'd be giving her the wrong idea...if it was the wrong idea to be giving her in the first place.

The ice mage folded his arms over the mattress, his chin propped up on his forearms. Watching her was soothing to his currently troubled soul. What kind of foolish woman wanted to wake up and see _him?_

"What kind of bad luck do you have that you would end up falling in love with me?" Gray mumbled absently, watching her still face...which twitched, much to his surprise.

"Is...that Gray-sama...?"

His upper-body straightened abruptly, eyes wide as he observed her own dark eyes flutter open in exhaustion. Apparently, Wendy had been wrong. It wasn't a few hours later; it was _now._

She blinked slowly, letting her pupils adjust to the light for a moment, then turned her head gradually to the side. A smile grazed her lips when she caught him in her vision.

Gray hated to admit it, but he found himself breathless for a second. She had always been pretty, and it all hit him a little too quickly, that she was alive and still with him—still looking at him like his presence made her the happiest girl in the world. The swirl of emotions within him was a hassle, something akin to a combination of guilt, relief, and annoyance...though he had to begrudgingly confess that he felt somewhat pleased that look was reserved for him.

Oh, and there was that guilt again. He shouldn't like the fact that she enjoyed opening her eyes to his stupid face; that was what landed her in this situation in the first place.

"Gray-sama," she greeted him hoarsely.

"Now it's back to 'sama'?" he retorted as he gathered himself, trying not to let his face betray his emotions. The ice mage got to his feet, grabbing paper cup by the sink and filling it with water before making his way back and handing it to her.

Juvia managed to push herself into a sitting position, though Gray could tell she feeling the stiffness and fatigue her frightening injury had left behind. She accepted the water gratefully and began to sip it lightly. It was an astonishing thought that only yesterday, she had been dying in his arms. Now she was almost herself again, albeit a little more exhausted and sore. Amazing what a bit of blood and hourly healing sessions with Wendy and Porlyusica could do overnight.

"Gray-kun," she corrected herself.

"How are you feeling?" Gray asked as he stared at the sheets of the bed. He didn't want to look at her. It would be too difficult to maintain the already weak facade he was keeping up. Remaining indifferent had never been so hard.

"Juvia feels fine...though perhaps a little tired." Her voice was gentle, but refreshing. It was ridiculous how short a time it'd been since he last heard it and yet it seemed like the most melodic, beautiful thing he'd heard in years.

"But...I am glad that Gray-kun is okay."

"That I'm okay...?"

It was more of a rhetorical question than anything, because his brain was running so far behind that he wasn't even sure what he was thinking anymore. He'd been partially irate before, that the first thing she wanted to see when she woke up was him, but now he was realizing that the first thing she _thought_ about when she woke up was him and his well-being.

"Yes. Juvia is glad she was able to get to Gray-kun on time."

"..."

She was _glad_ she had gotten to him on time, even though she was lying in a bed, likely knowing all too well how close to death she had come. What in the world was this girl thinking?

"I'm sure Gray-kun was able to defeat the one who wanted to hurt us."

His mind was still lagging when he become conscious of the fact that she had just spoken to him. The ice mage mentally shook himself after a moment, reminding himself that the girl in front of him was still in need of an answer.

...An answer...

"Uh, yeah."

An answer.

So many months ago, Gray had scolded himself for not paying enough attention to Juvia. Back when he thought she was just an annoying girl, there had been a revelation in which he figured out how much he had been writing her off and made a promise to himself that he would stop taking her for granted—stop disrespecting her so much, and give her an answer.

Where was that answer he had resolved to give her? She certainly didn't have it. The answer was still stewing within his sorry existence, sitting in the crevasses of his mind with dust piling onto it. He had meant to brush it off yesterday and offer it to her, but his plans had changed when she took a shot in the chest for him. She never got her answer and she deserved one now.

It was time to stop delaying it. He had made up his mind and he was going to do what was best for the both of them. He had to stop and breathe, pull himself together and prepare himself to do what was possibly the bravest thing he had ever done.

Gray gave himself another few seconds to take in the moment. He wanted to remember the serene smile that was on her face and the way her dark eyes watched him with so much admiration, because everything was going to change.

"Listen..."

Juvia peeked at him with curious eyes and he wanted nothing more than to look away, but he forced himself to keep with her. He couldn't be a coward.

"I was going to tell you yesterday, but obviously, other...things...got in the way," he began, trying to keep his voice steady. "A long time ago, I apologized for disrespecting your feelings because all I did was ignore them, and even after, maybe I thought about how you felt more, but it didn't change a thing. Everything's the same as it was a year ago."

"That's not true, Gray-kun," Juvia denied with that sweet worried tone to her voice. It was that one she always used when she knew something was bothering him. She couldn't use that against him today—not right now. He wasn't going to fail this time. He wasn't going to hold on to her this time.

"Maybe some things have changed, but what's most important is still the same," Gray replied quickly before she could say anything else. "You're still chasing me and I've just let you because it was easy."

_Because I wanted you to..._

"Not anymore." He swallowed, steeling himself. "It's time for you to understand that what you want is never going to happen."

She was clutching her blanket with both hands, jerking back so slightly that only a trained eye would be able to see it. She couldn't process what he was telling her and it was plain to see. When her mind finally caught up, she was going to realize that he was hurting her. She was going to hurt and cry and blame herself and Gray had to withstand it. He had to watch her and take in the impact of his words, because in the end, he knew she was the one who would be suffering the most. No matter how difficult this task was for him, it was never going to measure up to dealing with the purest broken heart he'd ever known.

But...this was for the best.

"We shouldn't go on missions together anymore, and you should throw out or give back whatever clothes of mine you have," Gray continued coldly, voice unwavering. "I don't want you to sit next to me during meals, or to come find me in the morning, or ask me for opinions or punishments or whatever. We're comrades from the same guild, nothing more, nothing less. Having you around...is just annoying."

"G-Gray-sama—"

His name came so weakly out of her mouth that he felt sick. He'd done this. It was his fault. But he pressed on anyway. "I'm never going to love you, Juvia, so give up already."

Her mouth was opened slightly and her face had turned red. Her breathing was so ragged and desperate, Gray probably could've heard it from the other side of the room. She was impossibly still, eyes unblinking and brimming with tears. He almost thought she was going to begin screaming, or break out into one of those confident proclamations she was so good at. That was the type of person Juvia was: never one to give up on a fight, especially when it came to matters of the heart. She was the most resilient person he knew. She always bit back.

But the shouts never came, and as he watched her carefully, distantly, he realized that it probably hurt more that all she could do was cry.

"If that is what Gray-sama wishes, then...Juvia has no right to deny him," she whispered as she sat, motionless, tears running down her cheeks.

Finally, he broke eye contact and stood from his seat. "Good."

Gray didn't wait for anything more and he walked out of the infirmary, heart clenching. He was such a bastard; even though he knew that everything turned out the way it should be, he'd still hoped that she wouldn't believe him, and that her unshakable faith would shine through yet again. It was a foolish anticipation, considering the words he'd chosen were specifically to stab her through the heart and make sure she wouldn't refute him. All he could ever be was selfish, even when he was trying to do something selfless to protect her.

At the very least...it was done. Juvia was better off this way. What happened yesterday could never happen again. He would rather lose her one way than the other, and that had made up his mind. It might upset her for a while, but she would eventually understand. He could carry the burden of doing this as long as she was safe.

Gray didn't want to think about anything as he started his walk home, but he stopped abruptly when something hit his nose. And then his cheek, and his hand, and then just consumed his entire being. Soon enough, he was drenched from head to toe. Gray looked up into the open air as he pondered the opinions of his eighteen-year-old self.

Rain. It wasn't depressing at all.


	12. For the Ones You Love

**Author's Note: **Hello! So judging by the feedback, I'm guessing a lot of you missed all the foreshadowing in chapter 10, huh? Oh, that's okay! Being an idiot is a big part of being in love. It's whether or not you work through the idiocy that counts! Thanks to everyone who took time to leave a review because every writer appreciates that their readers have spent a little time on them too (and honestly, every anguished review from that last chapter is the biggest complement you can offer me)!

Buckle down for chapter 12! We are nearing the end of this story!

**Warning: **_Spoilers_ _for the Grand Magic Games arc_, so if you haven't read up to at least chapter 339 of the manga, you should consider leaving this chapter alone until you catch up. Also, I'm fairly certain the relevant information hasn't aired in the anime yet (I don't watch it, so I don't know), so if you aren't caught up with the manga, once again, you should consider leaving this chapter alone for a bit.

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><p><strong><em>You Stole the Rain<em> **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 12 – _For the Ones You Love_**

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><p>Everything was backwards. That was all she knew. One day she had been putting one foot in front of the other, moving forward with her heart in her hands, and the next she was being pulled the other way with nothing she could do to stop it.<p>

Everything was backwards.

If there was one thing Juvia was completely certain of, it was that nothing was supposed to have gone that way. She was so sure—_so, so sure_ that she had been reading the signs correctly. Her thoughts couldn't be wrong. She couldn't have been that mistaken.

And even though she told herself this again and again after Gray had left, the rain still poured outside and she couldn't do anything to stop it. The water mage realized that she was probably still too in shock to even properly process what was going on, because she didn't know how to cry or feel angry right now. She was just..._confused._

Certainly, when Gray had spoken to her, there had been tears, but now that the initial blow had worn off, she simply didn't know how to make sense of the situation. That had been yesterday, and she had spent hours sitting in her bed ruminating over the same thing. She just didn't get it! Things had been absolutely fine when they were spending the day together… It had been so quiet and tranquil before that assassin had shown up. Juvia even thought that maybe Gray was...feeling something for her. She'd been feeling a connection with him that was stronger than she had ever felt.

And now this. _"Wait for me," _he'd requested of her, but what for? For him to break her heart? And right now, she wasn't even sure if her heart was broken. If anything, it was being held together from sheer will power. If she fell apart now, there was no telling what she would do.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" a voice interrupted her thoughts and Juvia jerked her head up unsure of whether or not she was going to scream, cry, or explode within the next three seconds.

As it turned out, a fourth option was available in which she was fairly quiet in attempting to suppress her current sentiments. She didn't want to burst out into random emotional displays when nobody even knew what was wrong. There...shouldn't even be anything wrong, because all she was doing was respecting Gray's feelings. That shouldn't hurt. She should be doing that proudly, because she loved him...

Even if he didn't love her.

Juvia swallowed as the thought hit her for the first time so seriously. Though she'd always known his feelings weren't the same as her own, he had always been accepting of her. Now, this was just like all the other times. Again, it was _rejection_ because he didn't want her love. It was all a big circle that she was sick of going around in. She'd told herself that this was different, that because this was a man she truly loved, it didn't matter what happened, but she was wrong and all of this hurt.

"Good afternoon, Cana-san. Juvia is doing well, thank you," the water mage responded almost automatically with the least depressing smile she could muster up at the moment.

Cana frowned, walking forward with crossed arms, scrutinizing the patient suspiciously. "No you're not. You look like you've been crying."

Juvia kept her mouth closed and Cana backed off, reeling in some sort of epiphany. "_Oh_, no wonder it started raining buckets outside. Gray made you cry, huh?" she asked with a sigh, as though it was completely expected. She moved slowly over to the chair adjacent to the bed, sitting down and shaking her head. "I knew that idiot was going to do something dumb."

Juvia let out a shaky breath. "How-how did you...?" the water mage questioned as she drew her blanket up to her chest. It was hard to see where this was going, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it or not. Already stuck in a fit of confusion, who knew if this was going to make it worse?

"I have no idea what he did or said to you, but I have known Gray for a long time," Cana explained. She leaned an elbow on the bed, eyes closed in thought. "You know as well as I do that he's always had trouble letting things go."

"Yes," Juvia agreed quietly, "Gray-kun does have a very strong conscience."

The other woman offered her a tired grin. "Yeah... He's definitely learned to move on, or he wouldn't be able to live life the way he does today, but he's still holding on to a lot. In the end, the bottom line is that you don't deserve to deal with that, especially when he's never upfront with you about his feelings."

Juvia froze, looking at Cana with wide eyes. The card mage's lip now held a grim line, one that made Juvia certain that she hadn't just misinterpreted what was being suggested.

"Cana-san... Are you telling me to give up on Gray-sama?"

Cana sighed, slouching down onto the edge of the bed. "I dunno. Maybe. I mean, you're sitting here crying because he can't be straight with you even after all this time. You're the sad one, so I guess I'm just angry for you."

Give up on Gray...? It was such a foreign thought. The man himself had already told her to, and she had outwardly agreed to it only because she needed to support his decision. She would stay away from him if that was what he wanted, but that didn't mean she was _really_ going to try and put him out of her heart. She was just going to watch him silently from afar—like back when she'd first joined the guild, except for this time she'd be miserable and depressed and a lot less love struck. Frankly, she didn't know how to not be in love with Gray. Of course there had been a time where she hadn't been in love with Gray and she'd been fine, or at least as fine as she could have been back then, but now it wasn't so easy.

"I—"

"Look, before you say anything," Cana cut her off loudly, "seriously, can you just think about what makes you happy? I get that him letting you do things for him did that before, but now? Even if he does let you do that again, you can't possibly think that would satisfy you forever. Wouldn't it be nice to for _once_ just be with someone who loves you as much as you love him?"

"I...don't know," the water mage admitted quietly. She was confused, and it wasn't any better with all these other things to think about being launched at her.

The other woman shot her a sharp look from her slumped place at the side of the bed. "Just think about it. Gray's being a dishonest dickhead. What is the point in being faithful to a guy who can't commit? Or even admit that he gives a damn about you?"

Juvia swallowed, her throat feeling dry. "Why do you say such things about him? Isn't Gray-kun your friend?"

Cana sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Of course he is, but so are you. If he's the reason you're both getting hurt, why should I support his stupid decisions?" She paused, snickering to herself. "Okay, well, maybe a tiny part of me wants to see him figure out that he needs you too, and I don't see any other way he will."

Erza walked through the infirmary doors before any other words could be said, a relief to Juvia. What Cana was telling her was too overwhelming to consider all at once, because it was right, but it was wrong too. Whether Gray was being dishonest or not was currently too much of mystery to focus her muddled brain on. Being faithful to a man who wasn't committed to her was another story. It wasn't that she was some mindless drone whose only purpose was to serve the man she loved; he was her only because it was what her _heart_ wanted. The situation wasn't one where she could simply let go of her feelings since she had suffered rejection. This was no man who had filled her days with perpetual sorrow. Thoughts of him, besides today's, were happy, and the memories she held of him were happy. She couldn't just shove them aside.

And...and he _had_ admitted to her that he cared—albeit, he was drunk at the time. Still, the sentiment had to be real enough when his actions always told her that he cared. She had seen the remorse he was drowning in when he thought he hadn't been taking her feelings seriously enough. He had refused to let her sleep outside in the forest, despite being uncomfortable with the prospect of sharing a tent with her. He...was the first person she opened her eyes to this morning, still looking worn and ragged from yesterday's events, like he hadn't gone home, like he had been scared and worrying...

"Juvia, I hope you're feeling better," Erza greeted her with a smile before she glanced around the room quickly. "Do either of you know where Gray is? I thought he'd be here, but I guess not."

"Well, as far as I know, he made her—" Cana gestured to Juvia, "—cry, and then ran off into the rain somewhere."

Erza groaned and palmed her face, shaking her head. "Really? I told him not to do anything stupid, but it looks like preventing one stupid decision only ended up with him going with the other."

The water mage wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it certainly seemed like she had missed a lot in her initial stages of recovery. Her body was still sore in every area it could possibly be, though the emotional turmoil just felt a lot more significant at the moment.

"Which is why I told Juvia to just forget about him. She's better off without a guy who won't admit his feelings and refuses to be with her," Cana supplied casually.

Juvia blinked in astonishment as Erza's face hardened instantly. "Don't claim to know what makes everyone happy, Cana."

Alarmed by the harsh tone, Cana sat up straight, eyes widening in realization. "Shit, I'm sorry, Erza. I didn't mean to..."

"No," Erza replied, shaking her head, "don't bother apologizing." The older woman directed her gaze at Juvia, any anger she had been experiencing diminished from her visage. "Juvia, _you_ need to be the one to decide what makes you happy. Maybe being with someone other than Gray will make you happy, but you'll be the one living with that, so you need to be the one to decide that. For some of us, there isn't compromise."

It was fairly obvious that Erza was speaking from experience. The conviction in her eyes was enough to tell a tale of ages. Juvia wasn't even sure how much she knew about the relationship that existed between Erza and Jellal, but it was pretty clear that they were in love with each other. Why they weren't together, however, was a mystery to basically the entire guild. With this confession, it was quite evident that the relationship wasn't quite as straight forward as everyone else thought it should be.

The bottom line was that the two weren't a couple. It didn't matter how much they loved each other, or how blindingly apparent it was that they wanted to be together. They were separate, and Erza could have chosen to move on if she wanted to, but that very same woman stood in front of her, saying she wouldn't because that was the best decision for her. Knowing this spoke volumes. It frightened Juvia. It meant that she couldn't just sit there confused, because now she had perspectives of both sides she could choose from. She wasn't allowed to be confused anymore; she was being given a choice and a choice had to be made.

She didn't _want_ to choose between letting go of Gray and staying (figuratively) by his side. Somehow, it felt like choosing between his happiness and her own and she simply couldn't do that. He'd asked her to leave him alone, and truly leaving him as just a part in her romantic past was not going to make her happy. Everyone's advice to someone who had recently ended a relationship was that eventually, you would be able to picture yourself with someone else, but that wasn't how Juvia saw her relationship with Gray at all. It wasn't herself and Gray standing side-by-side like one would see in a picture; it was him reaching out to her when she couldn't seem to find the strength to go on, and her pulling him through when there was a wall he couldn't get past. It wasn't that she thought he was weak, but she didn't know how he was going to get past those emotional barriers when she was one who noticed that he was stuck. She didn't know how she could overcome the limits of her strength when it was his reassuring smile that got her pushing herself to her feet again.

How...could there be someone else for her? How...could she stand resilient against the pain of loving him and staying away?

"I guess you should listen to big sister Erza," Cana commented cheekily as she stood from her seat, stretching. Apparently, even fearing that she had offended Erza only a minute earlier couldn't keep the sass flowing from her mouth.

The ex-quipper crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. "Don't call me that. Juvia, get some sleep. We've caught the man responsible for your condition, so you can rest easy."

"Yes," Juvia replied quietly with a nod. "Juvia is grateful for your support."

"Hey, well who else are you going to talk to?" Cana drawled, heading for the door as she looked back. "Gajeel? Yeah, right."

Juvia received a final wave from Erza before the other two women exited the room, silence settling in once again. She fell back into her pillow, a little less sad, but burdened with a world of troubles. She was lost and entirely unsettled. She doubted anyone enjoyed being confined in a room in which her only entertainment was counting the boards on the floor, but right now, she wasn't sure if this was a curse or a blessing. She was trapped in a room with far too many things to think about—things she'd rather not think about—and yet lying here was easier than going outside because then she would actually have to _do_ something and she had no idea what.

She sunk into her blankets and started counting the floorboards.

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><p>It was three days later that Juvia was free to leave the infirmary. Under Wendy and Porlyusica's care, she had recovered faster than she wanted to at this point in time. Even with nothing else to do but think and a few drop-ins from her guild mates, she still hadn't figured out what to do. Avoiding Gajeel's prodding questions about "where the hell the ice bastard was at" had really been the most difficult part. Telling him the truth would've made the whole situation worse, because he would've gone after Gray and initiated a fight. Gajeel was about as subtle as his giant bush of hair and thus conflict resolution was rarely carried out peacefully when he was involved.<p>

Juvia found herself reluctant to go outside. While she wasn't terribly fond of the infirmary, at least it allowed her to escape from the reality of facing her problems. She could think about it all she wanted, but if there was no decision made in the end, thinking was pointless. On top of that, it was still raining outside. Unsurprisingly, the rain hadn't stopped since the day she had woken up. Though she knew she was the one causing it, Juvia just couldn't seem to figure out a way to get it to stop. Considering how unstable her current emotions were, it was a given that she would attract precipitation.

She forced herself to open the front door of the guild hall, standing under the covered area as she watched the rain pour. She held an old parasol in her hands that she wished she had discarded years ago. Standing in the rain with an umbrella...it was like old times.

The water mage took a few steps forward. It wasn't as frightening as she thought it'd be. She was just outside, breathing in the saturated air around her, amongst her element. When rain didn't have any other meaning, she couldn't see how it could possibly be so bad. Men she had dated had made her hate the rain falling around her, but it was still water. When she had such a close connection to it, hating water was like hating herself. Perhaps at some point in time, she really _had_ hated herself, because back then, she had felt that the love she hadn't been able to obtain had somehow been all her fault. Now she could see clearly enough that there was nothing wrong with who she was—though she supposed the slight obsessiveness was a quirk most people didn't think positively of. Still, there was more than enough proof now that people could accept her and all her flaws. She didn't have to change for anyone. There was no reason to hate herself. Maybe it sounded stupid, but Gray had been the first to show her this, offering her a hand and a smile even after all the rain and mood swings. Was that why she couldn't let go?

Right now, Gray was the most painful subject of all. Juvia knew she couldn't go home, to a place filled with his presence because she had made it so. She had always wanted to bask in the feelings he immersed her in, but now she wasn't sure if she was even allowed to have them. If Gray didn't want to make her feel that way, it was almost like stealing if she did.

She walked quietly in the rain with the umbrella as her only shield. Her body wandered with her mind as they took her further and further away from home. What was she supposed to do? His life went on one way or another, but her choice would leave her world frozen if she couldn't let go. Erza might be okay with it, but there were still differences. Her love with Jellal was not a unrequited one, even if he might never admit otherwise; Juvia had _thought_ Gray might have real feelings for her until a few days ago. Nothing was certain anymore.

Maybe she was angry now, or maybe she was just sick of thinking about it, because her weary legs felt weak when she saw him in the distance...if that was even him. She had half a mind to believe that she was hallucinating, with all she had been going over in her mind in the past few days. She'd had enough realistic fantasies for it to be entirely possible that she was just imagining something yet again. Maybe he really just found her annoying all along and she had been misinterpreting annoyance for acceptance.

Whatever was going on, Juvia did what she thought was right although she might be crazy. She approached the man sitting on the ledge by the canal, briefly wondering if it was actually Gray like her brain was telling her, or if it was some herb-sniffing hobo who just happened to be there while her mind was playing tricks on her. Despite her uncertainty, she crouched down beside him and held the parasol over his head, taking on the rain herself. The male turned, and the moment she saw his dark blue eyes, Juvia knew that this wasn't her imagination. He was real. He was there.

And suddenly, she didn't know what to do.

Gray, on the other hand, did. It hurt when his gaze hardened coldly with the realization of who had joined him, but she held her ground in resignation. If she was annoying, then she was annoying. One action of moving away from him was not going to assuage that opinion.

"I thought I told you...having you around is annoying."

The hostility behind his eyes was telling her to yield, back away and leave him alone forever. Her heart was telling her to hold on for dear life, because she was never going to feel this way again if she didn't and she couldn't just let that slip from her grasp. Now was the time. She had to make a decision now.

She chose neither. "Gray-sama...is lying."

The coldness in his gaze faltered and his eyes widened, and Juvia knew that she had chosen correctly. She wasn't about to let go or continue on ignorantly. She couldn't do either of those things when she didn't know the truth.

Amongst the cloud of emotion, it was difficult to think clearly, but she wasn't stupid. She knew Gray better than anyone, and she had to stop doubting herself. They had been getting along so well that it was impossible it was in her imagination. He had kissed her because he couldn't stop himself, he'd asked her to wait for him because he was scared she would let go, and he had been by her side when she woke up, looking like absolute hell...because she was annoying? Because she was part of the guild? No. There was more to this than just the bonds of Fairy Tail. He was lying, and by the look on his face, she wasn't supposed to know that.

"Don't-don't be stupid. We were clear on this. Leave me alone," Gray snarled aggressively, but the stutter was enough to convince her to continue treading on this path.

"No," she retorted defiantly. It was her turn to stand up for her feelings and she was going to until the end. Stubbornly, she sat down next to him and closed the parasol, letting them both get soaked under the weeping sky. "Juvia is not leaving Gray-sama's side when he is calling her annoying."

"I told you not to call me that. And why not?" he demanded, turning away from her, but not shifting in his spot.

"Because Gray-kun is lying," Juvia replied as she corrected herself flawlessly, "so I will wait until you are ready to tell me the truth."

The ice mage let out a frustrated growl. "What's it gonna take for you to just leave me alone?"

She looked at him, temper flaring slightly. Juvia could feel the rain warm up a little in response. The last time she'd been angry with Gray was the first time she had met him, and that was a long time ago. She almost felt a little good for being angry with him, because that meant he was still capable of drawing out every sentiment from her and now there was nothing left for her to hold back. She had never asked anything of him before, never truly burdened him with the weight of her emotions until now. All she wanted from him was the truth, and it was the least he could give her after all this time. "You asked me to wait for you, and Juvia intends to do so."

He grew oddly quiet, like he was contemplating the impact of his own words being used against him. "I gave you my answer already," Gray told her, voice strained.

"You gave me an answer, but not yours," she asserted, the emotion rushing to her throat and chest again before she could even try to hold it back. She was trying her hardest to appear strong to him, to not break down in front of him. He was standing so strong against whatever truth he was holding back. She couldn't expect him to be honest if she was the one giving in first, especially when it looked like he was ready to break any second. Swallowing, she steadied herself. "I have been by your side for three years. _Three_ _years_. If that was your answer, why didn't you give it to me long ago? Why do you want to push me away?"

"B-because..." Gray had that look he got when he was grappling with what to say.

"Because...?" she prodded.

"Because!" he exploded, all that he'd been holding back spilling over as he brushed his wet hair back in frustration, droplets flying off to join the others hitting the ground. With both hands, he wiped the water from his face even though there was really no point to it. "I am _sick_ of people dying for me! Ur, Ultear, and-and _you_, Juvia. You can't just jump in front of a fucking bullet and think that's okay with me!"

Gray got to his feet, Juvia following suit with her breath held, umbrella forgotten on the ground. "I don't _want_ to push you away, but I have to, or it's going to happen again. I can't watch you bleeding out again. I _can't_. I lost Ur because of my mistakes, Ultear saved me when the Eclipse Gate was open, but if I lost _you_... Juvia, I can't—" He took in a shaky breath, staring intently into the canal. "You'll do it again if you have to. I know you will. So get the hell away from me."

Juvia felt like she was having an out of body experience. What had he said about Ultear?

"Then...it was real," she realized. "Gray-kun saved me back then. You..._died_ for Juvia."

He looked confused. "Wait, what?" He blinked, then his mouth opened slowly. "Oh..."

Idiot... Idiot! He was doing this because he cared about her, because he was blaming himself for the fact that she had done what was necessary to save him, but had conveniently forgotten that he had done the very same for her? Even if she'd thought it was just a vision before, the all too real image of him being shot through the chest, through the stomach, through the _head _haunted her like a plague. He said he couldn't watch her dying again—wasn't that a two-way street?

"It's not the same!" Gray protested, struggling to save his argument as he backed away from her. "I _love_ you!"

She didn't say a word. He seemed to realize the stupidity of his own only a second later.

"Oh, fuck... I didn't mean to—"

Juvia wrapped her arms around his torso and lay her head against his chest, the sides of her lips curving upwards. "Then you understand. You understand why Juvia had to save you. You understand why Juvia would do it again."

He didn't push her away this time, instead reciprocating gently. "I don't want to understand," Gray murmured in resignation. "I don't want you to die for me."

"I don't want you to die for me either," she told him, holding him tighter. "We...are not invincible, Gray-kun, but we are the same. We live for the ones we love, and that means we would die for them too."

"I know," he replied softly. "I'm sorry for being a stubborn prick, and for making you cry, and for bringing back the rain."

A small laugh bubbled up from her throat as her smile widened. Gray _loved _her, and she didn't know how to fully process that at the moment. This was real, not her imagination or her fantasy, but she didn't want to burst into happiness and scream and dance. All she wanted to do right now was enjoy this instant, feelings out in the open in each others' arms. Even if he was the biggest idiot in Earthland, nothing could be better than what was happening right now. This was what it felt like to be connected to the person she loved because he loved her too. She couldn't count how many times she'd dreamed of this glorious moment.

It wasn't so glorious, but it was perfect anyway.

"It's just a little rain," Juvia whispered, and it was, because it didn't bother her at all.


	13. Answers

**Author's Note: **What do I do at 3:30 in the morning? Evidently write fan fiction because I can't sleep. Anyway, I'm sorry it's been such a long time since the last update, but I really appreciate the support you guys have shown me. This story is very close to ending and hopefully I'll be able to finish it before the year's close. Thanks again for all the feedback!

I just edited this chapter and I am still astounded by how horribly cheesy my writing is. I'm really sorry.

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain <strong>_by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 13 – _Answers_**

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><p>The conversation never really ended. Gray wasn't stupid enough to think that all was resolved just because his feelings were out in the open now. Still, at the very least, he and Juvia had come to an understanding. They really were similar when it came to protecting their teammates and he felt rather foolish that he had completely disregarded this fact. It hadn't even crossed his mind that he had ever almost gotten himself killed to save Juvia. It was a natural built-in instinct to take the lethal blow for her and it only occurred to him <em>now<em>, after Juvia herself pointed it out, that it was probably the same for her.

Well...he was done beating himself up now, and from the way Juvia confronted him, she was done with it too. Honestly, Gray hadn't expected her to actually go against what he'd said. He'd really thought that it was as simple as rejecting her to keep her away from him, but she somehow knew he was lying and called him out on it. Gray was a little in awe of it, in fact, and could shake the pride that was building in his chest. She hadn't listened to him, and she was going after what she wanted against his wishes for once. It made him happier than anything. He always knew that she was strong, but he'd forgotten just how strong. To think she would just follow his demands without a second thought had been arrogant, but it wasn't as if he'd been thinking clearly either.

If anything, he was just relieved that he didn't have to be a complete and utter asshole around her anymore. Although he hadn't seen her for a few days after he'd ordered her to stay away, the image of her crying face had plagued him nearly every moment, and there had been scarcely any way to rid his mind of that. There wasn't anyone else to blame for that, though. Feeling miserable came with the territory of doing something like that to someone he cared so much for, and he'd known that, but it didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the feeling of a weight off his chest now.

And yet...what else could he say to her? He'd fully admitted to being an idiot already, and apologized to her. Juvia seemed to accept both in full. The fact that she had hugged him meant he was forgiven, right? Plus, the tenderness in her voice couldn't have possibly meant that she was still angry, especially since she had followed it up by holding his hand and leaning against his shoulder, neither of them really minding the continued rain or the silence that ensued. He'd walked her home afterwards without a word, and she had left him at the entrance of Fairy Hills with a fairly mild hug.

Really, Gray wasn't even sure how one described a hug as mild. He was used to Juvia _clinging_ to him all the time, so it was just strange to feel as though she was reluctant to hold on. She'd given him a hug after he had apologized as well, and that one hadn't felt mild. Maybe now that there were no secrets left, no emotions hidden for the other's "benefit", she simply wasn't sure where to go from her. Hell, now that he thought about it, where _did _they go from here?

The ice mage wondered how long he had been lying in his bed staring at the wall. Several minutes, at the very least. Maybe an hour or two. He glanced at the clock sitting on his nightstand. 2:47 AM. Okay, so not an hour or two, or even several minutes. It was more like three hours. The only consolation he could draw from this was that he didn't have a mission to head on tomorrow. Admittedly, he was thinking about Juvia a lot...or she was the only thing on his mind since he'd last seen her. At the moment, Gray was kicking himself for leaving their conversation so horribly open-ended, and he had been going over what he could've said or done differently the second she left his side.

He wasn't afraid to be her friend anymore—the thought couldn't be more foolish after the argument they'd had—but in that case, he was regretting the way he'd left things. Two things in particular were bothering him. The first was that it was still raining outside. He could hear it pattering against the windows and Gray had been entirely certain that it would stop when Juvia stopped feeling broken and depressed. It had been hours since their conversation and the skies still hadn't cleared up. Earlier, he had been hoping that it was just going to let up gradually, but the memory of the day he had met her pricked at him. The rain had stopped instantaneously, and this time, it showed no signs of stopping.

The other issue weighing on him was the same thing that had been bothering him for a long time now: he still hadn't given her a proper answer. Yes, Gray knew he had ended up rejecting her, but it was Juvia herself who had confronted him about said answer not being his. And it wasn't. He _had_ an answer to her feelings, and while the opportunity to give her that had been ruined by assassin a few days ago, he had let it slip that he was in love with her. That wasn't good enough. You could love someone and not want to be with that person—and anyone could take his word for that, because he had tried that very recently and failed.

Gray just wanted to see her happy now. There was nothing holding him back anymore, and he knew more than anything that he needed her. It was pure agony spending the days knowing that he had shredded her heart and destroyed their relationship. The thought that he was protecting her was the only thing that got him through the days, but Juvia had come back like a firecracker to tear his logic apart. He'd just hurt her trying to do what he thought was the right thing, and what he'd done had been foolish. Every single member of Fairy Tail fought as hard as they could in order to keep living, to keep loving, and keep sharing their happiness. Juvia was no different. His faith in their partnership had been so strong that when they were placed in a situation where injury was unavoidable, that faith was completely shattered, and he had resorted to pushing her away. They _were _strong together, but they weren't invincible, just like Juvia had said. The only thing they could really do was fight hard for each other. He...hadn't meant for her to fight so hard for her life only to come back to his heartbreaking idiocy. Now that he'd had time to think about it, there was only one possible thing he could do to make up for it: give her a proper answer.

He really wanted to do it as soon as he could, but it was—Gray turned to look at the clock again—2:53 AM and probably not a polite or wise thing to knock on someone's door at three in the morning. Pretty much everyone he knew would likely beat the living shit out of him if he woke them up at this hour. Juvia probably wouldn't, but that still didn't give him a right to go waltzing down to her place in the middle of the night.

_What right do you have?_

None. Not one, but...

He wanted one.

Gray got up from his bed so quickly that he regretted it for a minute. He blinked and shook his head, stumbling around his room to pull on some clothes as the spots in his eyes gradually cleared away. He donned his clothes in the dark and shoved his feet into his boots before heading out. Once the door was opened, he was reminded that it was still raining and stopped only long enough to realize that it would be even more rude to show up at someone's door in the middle of the night soaking wet. He absently grabbed an umbrella and began his journey to fight for his right.

The sound of the rain was deafening, so loud that it was difficult to concentrate on his own thoughts. He had no idea what to say to Juvia when he reached her place. He knew he was being stupid and hot-headed, but it wasn't like he had any better ideas right now. In fact, it didn't seem like _any_ of his ideas could be considered "better" these days. He just knew he had to do this, and if he didn't do it now, he was not going to get through the night.

Gray remembered the way she looked at him when she told him, _"Gray-sama is the one who took the rain away."_ He remembered how her dark eyes had made him feel breathless, how her smile had made his heart throb in guilt. He remembered...how she spoke with her voice so full of admiration and love, and how he had felt that the beautiful woman whose voice that belonged to deserved to be loved in return as _least_ as much as she was giving.

He remembered that once upon a time, he thought that there was no way he could be that guy. Now, he _was_ that guy. He had fallen for her harder than he had ever been conscious enough to accept. He should've realized this was going to happen the moment he'd assured her that she didn't need to feel threatened by other women. Of course she didn't. She was his constant. _His_ constant. She'd never wanted to leave his side, and he didn't want her to either.

_You know, maybe you should tell __**her**__ that, _Gray thought to himself tiredly as he approached the entrance of Fairy Hills, closing his umbrella. The trip seemed especially short when he was on a personal mission and now he was confronted with the issue of how to get in. He never came here very often, not seeing a reason to. Most of the time he met up with his female guild mates at their actual headquarters. He walked a few of them home from time to time, like when even the high-functioning alcoholic Cana was too smashed to make it back on her own, or when Erza was too full of...cheesecake. Still, he didn't know this building too well and that made it hard to break into. In fact, he wasn't even sure he wanted to break in where a building full of (select) temperamental, violent mage ladies were sleeping. Talk about a death wish if he were to be discovered creeping around as a "suspicious character". He didn't even know exactly where Juvia's apartment was, only that she had butterflies on her door. Ugh, if only this were as easy as breaking into Lucy's comfy place. He could duplicate her key in his sleep.

What the hell was he going to do? He could ring Juvia's apartment to let him in, but then there was the slight problem there that he didn't know which number her room was. He quickly ran through a list of options in his head.

There were definitely a bunch of girls who probably wouldn't murder him for waking them up in the middle of the night, but none of them had ever really been involved in his, er, love life, and he didn't exactly want to advertise that information to more people than necessary. Mirajane was like the nicest big sister to everyone, but she was also a huge romantic and would probably tease him ruthlessly if he told her why he was here. Lisanna shared a room with her, so she was also out of the question. Besides, after that night in the infirmary, it was embarrassing knowing she'd seen what she did. Levy would pry and Wendy...well, that was just weird. He was never going to ask Erza if he wanted to live through the night.

Then...Cana was his only option. Gray swallowed. He might not be murdered by her, but he certainly had to brace himself for potential bodily harm. Summoning his courage, he clicked the button for her room. He needed her help to get through this one door, and he was just going to have to deal with that.

It was almost a full minute later that the communication Lacrima that was attached to the side of the door lit up with life, a long list of choice curse words drifting it from it that let Gray know he had at least hit the right button.

"It is past three in the morning and I will be killing you in a method that depends on who you are and your reason for being here at this ridiculous hour," Cana's highly unamused voice sparked through the Lacrima.

Well, she answered the call. That was start.

"It's Gray. Can you...just let me in? I need to talk to Juvia and I don't know her room number," he replied back, seeing no point in hiding the truth. If Cana heard this had to do with Juvia, she might even be less inclined to wipe his presence off Earthland.

There was a long silence and Gray felt his anxiety building. A silence in response to his message couldn't be anything but a bad sign. That meant she was _thinking_ because she wasn't sure if she supported him being here or not.

"...Don't move," she finally said. "I'm coming down."

"Fine," Gray muttered, sighing quietly enough that it wouldn't be heard on the other end and leaning back against the wall. This was not looking good. Cana could just easily let him in with the push of a button, but she was coming down to talk to him instead. Hadn't there been enough obstacles already?

She came out the front door in a obviously hastily pulled on shirt and shorts. Knowing Cana, she had probably been sleeping in the buff, but she had gotten down her rather quickly anyway. Despite the drowsiness in her eyes that remained, her lips were held in a grim line that Gray immediately had a bad feeling about.

"I don't know what you said to her, but the last time I saw her, you'd _broken_ her," Cana confronted him, getting straight to the point.

"I _know—_"

"You don't have a right to be here," she interrupted him, arms folded with a glare.

_What right do you have? _The words echoed in his mind and Gray fumed. So what if this was another stupid obstacle? He'd already gone through a mountain of obstacles. He was not going to let another one stop him from getting to Juvia and giving her a real answer.

"No, I don't have a right to be here," Gray agreed with her, his temper on the edge of spilling over, "but I'm here to get it and you're not going to stop me."

Cana eyed him critically, her stance not relaxing at all. "You know, I told her to give up on you."

The words shocked him for a minute, but he didn't really have anything to say to that. It wasn't like he could be angry with her for giving Juvia advice Cana thought was really in her friend's best interest. Cana had never claimed to take a side either; she was just being a good friend, the same way she had brought him to spy on Juvia's date with Lyon.

"So did I," he admitted as he glanced towards the open door, "but she didn't and I'm not going to let her down again."

A second later, the card mage let out a loud sigh and snickered, shaking her head. "Get inside, you idiot. Her room is down the hall from mine."

A small smile worked its way onto his face. He had won because he was finally fighting for her, and he knew that was all Cana had ever wanted to see. "Thanks."

He slipped through the entrance as he heard Cana call out from behind him, "You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

"I can't always make it easy for you," he retorted with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, try harder."

The rest of the journey was travelled rather silently as Cana jerked him around the hallway a few times. Some of the areas in Fairy Hills were kind of familiar looking, but he felt grateful that he actually had a guide with him. Who knew who could've woken up if he had broken in and been fumbling his way around?

When they reached the door with the butterflies on it, Gray conveyed his companion another thanks, to which she nodded but didn't move. He glanced at her quizzically. "What?"

"I just haven't decided whether to go back to bed or eavesdrop yet," she explained in a low voice.

He rolled his eyes. "You're a pain in the ass too. Go back to sleep!" he hissed, grasping her shoulders and physically turning her around.

"What a thanks I get!" Cana whispered in mock outrage as she threw her hands into the air and started marching down the hall. Gray took special care to watch her going back into her own room before he even considered knocking on Juvia's door. Once he saw Cana's dark hair disappear into the other room, he looked back at the door in front of him. What a troublesome girl.

Well, he hadn't quite figured out what he was going to say, or how he was going to say it (besides the fact that it was going to come out of his mouth), but now he was in front of Juvia's room, moments away from seeing her. It seemed appropriate to have some sort of speech prepared, but he quickly dissolved that notion. Juvia appreciated him for who he was, and whether he acted like an idiot or a prepared idiot made no difference to her. He finally understood that, because whether she was being obsessive and weird or quiet and sensitive, he still loved her, and really, that was all she needed to know.

Gray knocked on the door. He was surprised when it opened a few seconds later. All too suddenly, Juvia was standing right in front of him.

"Uh..." he croaked intelligently.

"Gray-kun," Juvia spoke, blinking up at him. He hadn't expected her to get to the door so fast and now he felt like he was swallowing his own tongue.

"C-can I come in?" the ice mage asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh," she replied, still a bit stunned, "yes."

She moved a bit out of the doorway for him to step inside and as he walked past her, he noticed her wavy hair was damp with water, a towel draped over her shoulders as well. Plus, she had answered the door awfully quickly with no hesitation. He could only figure that she had been awake already. She couldn't have known he was coming, could she?

As she shut the door, he took in his surroundings. He didn't remember much about the last time he'd been here, other than how he felt in her presence and how much he had wanted to kiss her, so the simple theme of her room was rather new to him. Of course, there was a shelf that seemed to be filled with plushies of...well, _him_, but he knew Juvia made hobbies of sewing, knitting, and making crafts, so seeing so many stuffed versions of himself didn't really shock him. Still, it brought fire to his face. Her admiration for him was always embarrassing, just because he didn't think there was anything to admire.

"So you weren't sleeping?" he prodded, unsure of how he should proceed.

The door closed and she was blushing like she had been caught doing something wrong. "No. I couldn't get to sleep, so I took a shower."

_Of course she takes a shower, _Gray thought in amusement. After they'd spent nearly an hour out in the pouring rain the morning before, only Juvia would want to spend time in more water.

"Your hair's still wet," he pointed out as she sat down on her bed and fiddled with the Gray plushie a little shyly.

"Juvia doesn't mind."

"I know," he agreed, moving in front of her to pick up the towel on her shoulders. It was poor excuse to touch her, but he wanted to touch her, nonetheless. Gray placed the towel on her head, his hands on either side, just above her ears and gently tousled her hair. He was making her blush and it was unfairly adorable.

"Then...what brings you here, Gray-kun?" Juvia asked, her head slightly tilted down as he continued to dry her hair. She was peeking up at him and screwing him over because—_stop thinking about how fucking attractive she is_—of his own stupid urge to touch her.

"Guess I thought I owed you an answer," he said as his hands moved down to her lower locks.

"At three-thirty in the morning?"

"You're the one who was showering."

She didn't have anything to say to that and Gray kept at his task purposefully. A full minute passed before he even managed to find his words again. "...Are you mad at me?"

Juvia's head angled upwards abruptly, causing him to stop his work with the towel. "Mad? Why would Juvia be mad at Gray-kun?"

He pulled away, towel in hand. "Maybe mad's not the right word, but...it's just... It's still raining," the ice mage explained, feeling nervous. "I thought we kind of sorted things out earlier, but it's still raining and I take it that means you still feel pretty crappy about the stuff I said and did."

"It's true that Juvia's emotions triggered the start of the rain, but there are other reasons water falls from the sky, Gray-kun," she told him, giggling a bit. "You worry too much. I've said all I needed to say."

Gray stared at her, bewildered. "Wait, you're saying it's just raining outside because...it's raining?"

"Most of the time, weather is a natural occurrence."

She said it so simply that he felt dumb for the state of worry he'd been in for this morning, especially when he spotted the twitch at the sides of her lips. She was _laughing_ at her little jab at him, despite the embarrassment he was now suffering.

His own lips twitched. "You're evil," Gray proclaimed, purposely messing up her hair with the towel.

Juvia laughed and swatted at his hands unsuccessfully. "Gray-kun is much cooler when he is confident." Her eyes took on a mischievous glint before they went starry. "He is like a heroic, dashing prince—"

"Oi! Quit it!" Gray pulled her forward to stop her, resting her forehead on his abdomen as the towel fell to the ground. "I don't know how you think up some of this stuff..."

"Juvia is just honest," she shot back, though her voice was tender. She didn't move her head, but her hands moved up to grasp his shirt and brought him closer. Suddenly, this situation seemed far more intimate that he had ever intended it to be.

His brain was starting to fail. This felt too good and all he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms. They had hugged before, even passionately embraced (whilst making out), but Gray didn't know how it felt to have her curves melding into his body or her weight against him and he was dying to find out. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he had to practice discipline right now. This was not what he had come here for and no matter which road his mind was going down, he needed to focus on completing the job he had come to do.

"I should be honest too, because you were right. I lied," he confessed as he placed his hands on her head yet again, fingers weaving through her hair. "I lied about everything. I want to go on missions with you, you look really damn good in my shirts so I think you should keep them, I like when you eat with me, and when you don't come find me in the morning, I start inadvertently looking for _you_. Somehow, you became someone I _needed_ every day, and when I thought I might lose you, I broke down.

"But you fought to be with me for some reason—because you love me and you have endless patience or something—and you made me realize...that I want to fight for you too.

"It's never been a question of whether you could stay with me or not, because even though I never said it, I've always wanted you here. So...I figure you should probably know..." His left hand trailed down the side of her, fingers tilting her chin up so she could meet his eyes. There were tears flowing from her dark eyes, but she was smiling, and contrary to the last time he had made her cry, this was a vast improvement. "I...I love you, and I want to stay by your side, if you'll let me."

It happened so fast he barely knew what was going on. A second later, he was stumbling back with her arms around his neck and wet lips on his. It took another few seconds for him to comprehend that she was kissing him and realize that he should probably kiss her back. It was messy and heated and she tasted like the salt from her tears, but eventually he steadied her waist and it slowed into a much more emotional encounter, because this was the first time he had ever kissed her and known he loved her. This _meant_ something because he knew how he felt, he knew how she felt, and it was the result of fighting for each other. This was them together, united, and that was something he was sure would never crumble.

When she pulled away, Gray had no idea how much time had passed. All he knew was that it was still ridiculously early in the morning, but he couldn't be more awake if he tried. There was a beautiful woman in his arms and he didn't need a mirror to know he was wearing the dopiest grin on his face that humanity had ever seen. He didn't even ponder the current weather, because he knew exactly what it was in here.

"That," Juvia replied, glowing more than she would ever know, "is _my_ answer."


	14. Side by Side

**Author's Note: **Hello Gruvia friends! We are back and almost finished. Just want to drop a little note that this is the beach chapter, and therefore, Aquarius is mentioned. We'll just pretend that Lucy (spoiler) gets Aquarius back somehow, okay? Or you can just ignore that plothole in general because I have no idea about the timeline of this fic anymore. :)

Thank you to everyone for the feedback! This chapter, I wanted to get a little deeper into Juvia and a relationship, because I don't believe in sunshine and rainbow relationships. Everyone has baggage and sometimes it drags things down. But hey, with combined effort, you can let those sort of things go.

And I digress. Please enjoy.

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><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong>_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 14 – _Side by Side_**

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><p>It was such a silly thing to get worked up about, going on a date with your boyfriend to the beach. In fact, it wasn't even really a date when pretty much your entire guild was going to the beach as well. Regardless, Juvia was nervous about this. She had Gray hadn't really been able to spend that much time alone together for a while since he'd come to her room at Fairy Hills the other night. When they both left her room at a decent hour, a slightly astonished Erza spotted them right away. Needless to say, a minor interrogation ensued (mostly on Gray's part), causing doors to open all down the hall. Pretty much all of them had been absolutely glad for her and Gray except Cana, who stepped out of her own place later than the rest.<p>

"Oh jeez, you two again?" she'd sighed when she came out of her room, hair wild and bags under her eyes. "Well, at least it's actually morning now. I'm surprised you two didn't wake me up with some epic banging or something."

Wendy had looked scandalized while all the other girls had simply eyed her slyly. That night had been more about bringing an open conversation to an end and Juvia had not been thinking about anything past both of their feelings, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it before. Gray was always the subject of her fantasies, and if she was going to think about a man touching her, it was always going to be him doing it.

At the same time, the conversation had been going in an uncomfortable direction for Gray. Juvia was quite clear and open about her feelings for Gray, and given the opportunity to talk about them, she would gladly take advantage of that. On the other hand, her now-boyfriend (ooh, she got to call him that! It felt so good!) always seemed entirely put-off by public displays of affection when it involved him. In that case, Gray had looked absolutely mortified that Cana would make such a comment about the sex-life that hadn't yet even occurred and Juvia was reminded by Gray's aversion to her aggressive advances a while back. As a result, he had taken his leave rapidly without so much as a kiss—which shouldn't really have been a complaint since they had been kissing all morning—and scurried off while calling back that he would see her later.

The two of them had spent the next few weeks meeting up only privately, because it was mutually agreed upon that they wanted time alone together without loud teasing and destructive interruptions, and thus they had mostly been at Gray's apartment besides when they caught a mission together. Juvia never realized how much this would confuse her because, if she were being honest, she would want to jump the ice mage whenever possible. She was allowed to do that when it was just the two of them, but with others around, would that make Gray too uncomfortable?

It had taken her long enough to respect what a relationship with someone who actually cared for her would entail. The water mage had used to do whatever she wanted to Gray even though it clearly made him uncomfortable. As his friend, she'd eventually realized that she need to back off.

The thing was, she wasn't _just_ his friend anymore, but that didn't change the level of respect she held for him at all. Juvia didn't want to touch him around their friends if it was going to make him feel weird, and she didn't want to do anything that would damage their relationship. She had never been in any sort of romantic relationship that had made her feel this good before. She used to just do what she wanted around Gray and he just kind of put up with it. Now that they were together, she didn't want it to be the same way. The thought of anyone just tolerating the other person in the relationship made her feel sick. It made her feel the same way she used to when she yearned for the comfort of companionship.

All she wanted was for him to be happy. All she wanted was for him to _stay_ happy.

The water mage took a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven. She wasn't exclusively a cook, or a seamstress, and really had a whole variety of hobbies, but most of the time she cooked or baked because she wanted to. Today, she had made cookies out of stress. Something just felt _wrong_ and she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Juvia was nervous. And anxious. All she could do right now was try her best to do something that would put a smile on Gray's face. She'd bring him cookies, and while she was getting prepared to go to the beach, she could whip up a quick strawberry cake!

The baking took her mind off of things, running back and forth between her room in Fairy Hills and the kitchen. All the other girls were too busy packing their things for the day to pay her any mind, but when she was spotted, there was a brief quizzical glance sent her way. There wasn't much more than that, however, since most of her housemates were rather well-acquainted with her strange antics. None of them complained either, considering most of them also had weird impulses or habits, and people like Erza certainly didn't mind getting cake straight from the oven.

By the time she was ready to go, the cookies were tied up in a bag (that she had spent entirely too much time tying to make it look _perfect_), the cake was placed upon a fancy tissue and carefully put into a box, and she dressed in whatever she was supposed to be dressed in with a bag full of items. She was so entirely prepared that even Cana made a point of saying that Juvia looked _overly_ prepared, which was followed with a round of good-natured teasing.

The thing was...Juvia really was frighteningly prepared, and yet she still couldn't shake her anxiety. It just felt like everything was too good to be true at the moment. Something needed to go wrong eventually, and there was just something inside her telling her that it was going to be today and it was going to be her fault. That's why she was going out of her way to make sure everything went perfectly. She knew no matter what happened, Gray would always be her friend, but she didn't want him as just a friend; she wanted his love.

And he _did_ love her. He'd made that clear enough. But what if she did something that made him stop loving her? What if she didn't do enough to keep his love? What if she did something that screwed everything up?

Her friends chattered away as they walked to the beach while Juvia lagged behind, berating herself. Such negative thoughts were unbecoming of her and she didn't even know why she was having them. It felt absolutely horrible thinking about things going sour before they had even gone anywhere. They had only officially been together for a couple of weeks, and for some reason, them being seen out in public together just triggered something inside of her and whatever it was, she hated it.

At the very least, the moment they arrived at the beach, she felt a little more relaxed. The smell of the ocean could always do that. A couple of the other women went to go set up the volleyball net while the others placed down some blankets and piled their belongings together. She didn't see Gajeel yet, but Makarov was here already, no doubt ready to creep on the women on the beach for as long as he was allowed to. It appeared as though Laxus and his group were also already settled in as well, but Gray was nowhere to be seen.

Juvia sighed in relief, fidgeting with the buttons on her shirt. She couldn't even recall a time when she didn't want to see Gray, and it wasn't exactly that she didn't want to see him; it was just that she was worried about what could happen when she saw him. She just loved him so much...

"I expected you to be in the water by now," a smooth voice said from behind her, and she knew right away who it was. She inwardly shook. It was too early for this to be happening already.

"G-good morning, Gray-sama," she greeted him, her smile a little uncertain, the way it shouldn't be.

"'Sama'?" he echoed, smirking as he sat down next to her. He was already shirtless, which was not even remotely a surprise, although the pack over one of his shoulders indicated that he, too, had just arrived. "I thought we had this conversation already. Several times."

"Juvia can't help it when she is nervous," the water mage admitted as she fumbled down the rest of the buttons on her button up shirt. She couldn't remember the last time dealing with clothing had been so complicated.

Gray raised an eyebrow this time. "Nervous? About what?"

She paused, looking away. Oh no, she hadn't meant to tell him that she was _nervous_. Normal Juvia would be happy, possibly even over the top and outrageous, but there was something wrong with her today and she didn't know how that would be okay. Gray was pretty laid back about most things and he probably wouldn't be offended, but confessing something like that to him would make it real and she felt ashamed. What kind of person was she, to be so able to love a man privately and publicly until now? So what if people saw them? So what if she did something wrong? Why did her insecurities have to come out today of all days?

"I made cookies," Juvia spoke quietly, changing the subject as quickly as she could while she pulled the prettily made up bag from her tote.

"Oh, cool." He opened the bag casually without much excitement, and normally, that wouldn't have fazed her, but right now it felt like she was suffocating. He...he liked them, didn't he? She always brought baked goods that she had made, and he always reacted in the same manner. He enjoyed them, but he never expressed any sort of utter delight when she presented him with them. Did that mean he didn't care for them? That he didn't like them?

His voice cut into her frazzled thoughts. "These're good. Thanks."

"And cake," she added rather timidly, bringing out said cake as well.

Gray looked at her for a moment, then chuckled. "What's with all the sweets today?"

"No reason. I just wanted to bake," she stated as she shrugged off her shirt and pulled off her shorts. Abruptly, she got to her feet and began to drag him towards the water. "Shall we go in?"

"Hey, slow down," he said in a soothing voice, a cookie still in hand. "Why are you in such a rush? And don't just take out the cake and leave it there unless you want Erza to eat it."

"She can eat it..." Juvia mumbled absently. She shot him a pleading look and he sighed.

"Alright, alright. Just let me finish eating this," he conceded as she took his hand with a shaky smile. This was horrible. She didn't even know what she was doing.

She was screwing everything up.

He seemed completely fine with her dictating their activities as he followed her down the beach shortly after. He'd even put the cake away before indulging her, but she didn't wait for him, even as he walked after her. She needed to get to the water. She needed to be in her element.

She let out a short breath of delight as her toes caught the water, beaming as she began dashing further into the ocean. It felt so wonderful, and then she was angry at herself again. Emotion bubbled up within her chest and she drew her arms to her stomach, staring at the water. Why was she feeling like this? Why, why, why?

"Juvia—"

She flinched, moving away from the voice—_Gray's_ voice. She'd worked so hard only to push him away and she didn't know why she couldn't stop herself. Juvia had been fine when it was just the two of them alone. She couldn't figure out what the difference was now.

She turned around miserably to look at him, feeling as if she was about to cry for some stupid reason. She didn't want to be acting like this, so unlike herself. The only thing she could do was feel grateful that he didn't have an annoyed look upon his face. Any other man would probably have lost his patience with her by now, but this had never happened before and Juvia was thanking everything she knew that her boyfriend was still standing there.

Gray reached for her gently and she let him lay a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, tell me what's wrong. You've been acting strange ever since I saw you today."

"I-I don't know," she stuttered, sinking into the water so that it covered most of her torso with Gray following suit. "Juvia...is scared."

"Scared?" he repeated, blinking. "Of what?"

That he was going to leave her. That he was going to get fed up with her. That one day he was going to wake up and realize this was all a mistake. "Are you happy, Gray-kun?"

Gray looked puzzled and slightly concerned. "Well...yeah. I guess."

"Do I make you happy...?" she asked, her throat feeling tight.

This time he looked at her incredulously. "Juvia, I walked to Fairy Hills in the pouring rain at three in the morning to ask you to be my girlfriend. I doubt I would've done that if you didn't make me happy," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The fact that he said it that way reassured her a little, but before she could say anything, he cut her off.

"Wait, is that what this is about? Is that why you brought all that baked stuff? Because you thought it would make me happy?" he asked, almost a bit offended.

"I-I don't know..." Juvia responded again, this time more timidly. She could feel that bubble rising again. "It's just...before...I would do everything I could, but it still wasn't enough..."

As soon as it came out of her mouth, she knew it to be the truth. She was terrified that Gray was going to leave her the same way everyone else had left her in the past. None of them had been happy or satisfied with the things she had done for them and that was all she knew. She hadn't even bothered trying to dress up for them because they were always too busy paying attention to the other pretty girl hanging off their arm—the one that never made it rain. Perhaps she hadn't been doing enough, working hard enough to keep them happy, and maybe that was okay since she hadn't loved any of them; she'd only wanted _their_ love. Gray, however, was not someone she could give up on and doing so was simply not an option. She needed to work hard to make him happy, and that was all she knew.

"What do you think a relationship is supposed to be like?" the ice mage asked, seating himself beside her close enough that their shoulders were touching. She couldn't read any sort of emotion in his voice and wasn't exactly sure where he was going with this question. She also wasn't sure how to answer it.

"I don't..."

Before she could repeat it for a third time, Gray interrupted her. "Yeah, I don't either. I have no idea what a real relationship is supposed to be like, but I know it's not just you trying to make me happy."

His stare was hard, though not harsh. Juvia swallowed at his words. "It's all Juvia knows," the water mage conceded as she touched her fingers to the surface of the water.

"Well, whatever you know, it's not right," he told her firmly before he snorted. "Man, I think we must both be terrible at this, because I couldn't even admit I was in love with you and now you couldn't tell me you were feeling insecure on our first time out together."

Her eyes widened in horror. Dear Mavis, she _had_ been insecure and hadn't even given that a single thought. She'd just been so worried about the past repeating itself that she had completely missed what she was actually feeling. Juvia knew she was the type of person that needed support when she was feeling apprehensive and recalled a day that seemed so long ago now, when she had shown up on Gajeel's doorstep looking for a shoulder to lean on. At the time, her best friend had been the right person to go to. Now...

"We really need to start talking about these kinds of things," Gray said, his hand slowly migrating across her back to settled on her waist. Juvia could feel the blush pricking at her cheeks, a little more at ease when she saw the red in his cheeks. It seemed he was still getting comfortable with these small displays of affection too. "When you lose your confidence, it feels weird. It's like you're too...normal."

She smiled, leaning into him. He might have put it oddly, but all that meant was that he liked her the way she was. He didn't seem worried either, and his calming presence soothed her. There was a problem and he was telling her they should fix it, not break it off. He wasn't saying it was too much work to be with her or that it was too tiring. He wasn't, and even if it was a pattern she was used to, she didn't know why she'd expected otherwise. Gray was different. _They_ were different. Perhaps she simply hadn't realized that until now.

"Then...Juvia will tell you next time," she spoke quietly.

"Not just that," the ice mage denied her as his cheek pressed against the side of her head. "Tell me anything, and everything. I see you for everything you are. Nothing you say is going to change that. But I'm not going to know what you're thinking, and I want to, because I want this to last."

"And Gray-sama will do the same for me?" Juvia asked, feeling a little more cheerful now.

"Yeah. We got a deal?" he questioned as he got to his feet, then pulled her up after him.

Juvia nodded and Gray cracked a small smile that immediately became a frown when he turned to the shore. "Oh shit, Erza found the cake anyway. Whatever. I guess it was bound to happen."

"Erza-san has a very sharp nose when it comes to certain sweets."

"You just _had_ to make strawberry cake, didn't you?"

"Juvia enjoys making strawberry cake!"

"Well, at least someone's enjoying it," he said, the corner of his mouth lifting.

She puffed her cheeks out at him. "Are you saying you wouldn't enjoy Juvia's strawberry cake?"

Gray rolled his eyes in return and crossed his arms, clearly not buying into her act. "You know exactly what I meant."

"Gray-kun, you're supposed to fall to your knees and beg for forgiveness," Juvia stated as she clutched her face in her hands dreamily, imagining him doing so. Gray was quite a ways more romantic in her head than he actually was, and he was never really going to perform overtly amorous gestures to anyone, including her, but it was all part of the fun to (poorly) imagine how he would act in certain scenarios and see him do something else—something better.

"Yeah," he agreed with a smirk, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up against him. Her face reddened as she looked up at him. Yes, this was _definitely_ part of the fun. "I'm really, really sorry."

She didn't think anything of the sarcasm dripping from his voice except that she liked it. He was entirely too close to be even possibly considered innocent and she knew he was drawing her in for something that would probably suffice for an apology, even if he didn't really owe her one. Whatever words she had died in her throat in anticipation of what was coming next.

His head dipped and she closed her eyes, opening them a second later in surprise when Gray made a strange yelp, apparently losing his balance and toppling onto her. Juvia let out a squeak as she splashed into the shallow water, butt hitting the sand. The water mage looked around in confusion to spot a circular white object floating nearby that definitely hadn't been there earlier. Gray was swearing profusely as his upper body hovered over her and clutching his head with one hand, using the other to brace himself and Juvia's heart stopped.

He had fallen forward...between her legs.

It was still early in their relationship, but suddenly, the possibility of actually having her dirtiest fantasies fulfilled in the nearby future became all too real.

"Damn that stupid fire-breathing dumbass," Gray cursed as he basically hoisted Juvia to her feet while she stared into nothingness, happily dazed. "Hit me with a stupid frisbee—" she heard him mutter furiously, whipping around. "—you're gunna get it, stupid bastard!"

She was pretty sure magic began to fly, some minor explosions going off somewhere nearby, but the only thing she was capable of doing was putting her hands on her cheeks, euphorically sighing, "Ooh Gray-sama...!"

* * *

><p>"I...am going...to kill him...someday..." Gray rasped out, panting between every few words as he collapsed forward onto the sand before he rolled over onto his back.<p>

Juvia settled herself next to him on her back as well, in a rather positive mood. "Aquarius is very nice, isn't she?"

He stared at her in disbelief. "Uh, sure. If you think her almost murdering us is a positive quality."

"Oh no, you can tell that she really cares for Lucy," she told him. Whether he believed her or not, she didn't know, but he said nothing to dispute her.

She turned her head to look at him, his eyes now closed as he breathed in and out. He looked at peace, and it was nice to see that after all the conflict he'd been through in his life. While it felt good that he cared enough such that her near-death situation had been one of the things he'd been truly devastated by, it was also something that made her sad for him. He felt deeply enough for her that he could confess that he loved her, and Juvia knew she would never take that for granted. She could finally, _finally_ tell herself that she had his heart. He would always have hers and they wouldn't give up on each other. He had reinforced that today. Just as they'd done with their Unison Raid, if it was a fight, they would stick together, holding hands through it all.

And... Her eyes lowered to the hand lying by his side; she wanted to hold his hand. Perhaps they had address her insecurities earlier, but she still had no idea if she could just take his hand in hers without asking.

As it turned out, Juvia didn't have to ask, because Gray took her hand only a moment later, offering her a meaningful look.

"You don't have to be afraid to hold onto me if you want to," he told her in that nonchalant manner that had hurt her earlier, but now seemed to calm her down.

"Gray-kun has never seemed to like it," Juvia responded, still a little stunned by his willingness to be a little more public about their relationship.

Gray turned back to the sky, his face a bit flushed again, although she couldn't tell if it was from the recent altercation he'd had with Natsu or if he was just blushing. "Yeah, well, it wasn't that I minded you having your hands on me; you were just way too liberal about it."

All Juvia could do was laugh at that. After all this time, he was almost implying that he had liked her touching him, but couldn't stand it because she'd been doing it so freely without any consideration of how he felt, even if he _didn't_ mind her very high invasion of his personal space. She was glad, however, that he had been as strict as he had with her. Without his constant refusal to just accept her bold actions, their relationship would probably not be as strong as it was. Admiring him was easy, but being respectful of his feelings when her love for him was so overwhelming was a different story.

"Gray-kun, do you remember when we went on that mission to find the mushroom with the pink spots?" she asked, smiling fondly at the memory.

He, on the other hand, groaned loudly. "Don't even remind me. We were looking in that forest for hours."

"We shared a tent that night," Juvia giggled, "and I got to lie next to Gray-sama, just like now."

"Yeah. I said things would be different back then, didn't I? The next time we lay together like this?"

"Yes..."

Neither of them had to say anything else, because they both knew that things _were_ different. Juvia hadn't known what he'd meant back then and Gray probably had some other idea when he'd said those words, but he had still been right. Back then, they hadn't known anything. Now, there was a mutual understanding between them—a mutual feeling between them.

A selfless, selfish love.


	15. Epilogue: Invincible

**Author's Note: **We made it! 40 chapters in total written for this series and a 4 year ride. I cannot believe it's been that long. With this, the Possession Series is finally complete. Thank you so much for reading, and a boatload extra gratitude for the reviewers who have kept me going through finals. I love writing so much, but in the end, it's always the readers who make it worth something.

This may be the final chapter of the Possession series, but I'll definitely be back with more Fairy Tail fics in 2015. But for now, again, just thank you. I hope you enjoyed the story.

As always, feedback is appreciated on the way out. :)

* * *

><p><em><strong>You Stole the Rain<strong>_ by HawkofNavarre

**Epilogue: Chapter 15 – **_**Invincible**_

* * *

><p>It had been a beautiful day. One Lucy Heartfilia had walked down the aisle this afternoon, gorgeous and vibrant in a flowing white dress to marry a...decent-looking for once, Gray supposed, dragon slayer of idiotic proportions who went by the name of Natsu Dragneel. In a matter of moments, the two of them were a family and the entirety of Fairy Tail and a few others from allied guilds were there to witness the event. Gray himself had been standing at Natsu's side, one of the groomsmen after a very awkward and reluctant conversation between the two. Both of them were mature enough now to admit they cared for each other like brothers, if not in so many words. Naturally, Happy was the best...Exceed, so that slot had been taken, but he was honoured that he'd been given the privilege of holding the wedding rings amongst other groomsmen duties.<p>

The ice mage had taken his job very seriously, making certain that the rings got to the ceremony and were exchanged safely. He'd certainly done it well enough, until he realized that one of them had been lost. No, not Natsu's ring, nor Lucy's ring, but the other one that sat in a box in a pocket on the other side of his trousers. It'd been there throughout the ceremony, he was sure, and had somehow disappeared between then and now. Gray had spent hours picking it out and spent more jewels on it than he had on anything ever. How could he lose it? _How?_

The sun was going down, but Gray was looking for it anyway, kicking dirt down the trail of the property. It was actually quite amazing what the guild had been able for the two of them by pooling their resources together. Somehow, they had managed to rent the old Heartfilia estate before it a very nice, rich old couple moved into it. Lucy was thrilled about both things, glad her old home would be used to house some kind souls and to have her wedding near her parents' graves. As per her wishes, the wedding had taken place in her backyard, which was pretty much a giant plot of flat and rolling lands anyway. It hadn't been hard to find a good spot.

He sighed. The wedding ground was a source of his despair at the moment. When he realized he'd lost a little box, not much bigger than an inch in its dimensions, containing an even smaller very valuable piece of jewellery, he stopped breathing. He stopped breathing because he'd _lost a tiny ring on a gargantuan plot of land_. In a split second, he'd lost the object that took three months worth of mission rewards to buy. Of course he would be at the center of irony when it came to losing his own ring at a wedding where he was holding on to all of them.

Gray was still trying to figure out how he'd even dropped it. He had been ridiculously conscious of the precious cargo on his person, so it couldn't have just _fallen out_ while he wasn't watching. He'd always been watching. In fact, he'd had it right as the ceremony started and realized he didn't have it when he was handing over the other rings. There was nothing on the ground after the wedding itself except for flower petals, which Asuka had been extremely trigger happy about as soon as her mother had handed her the basket. He inwardly groaned knowing that he'd almost had a breakdown caused by an eight-year-old. He'd very discreetly (in a panicked state) sifted through all those petals to no avail.

Everyone was back at the mansion by now, probably getting drunk and rowdy, although because they didn't technically own the property, Erza had permission to crush anyone who was about to break something. He was supposed to be there too with his own girlfriend, but he'd made some excuse about wanting to get away from people a bit to stay out here and search for his lost treasure. He doubted she really noticed anyway. Juvia had been on a complete high ever since the start of the day, and that didn't surprise him at all, considering how much of a romantic she was.

That was why he had planned this for tonight. When things had settled down, when Natsu and Lucy had gotten their day, and when they were alone someplace beautiful, Gray was going to get down on one knee and as her to marry him. Evidently, this was no longer happening and he was going out of his mind trying to figure out how he was ever going to get another ring, or find another perfect moment to do this. He was not a romantic guy, but he'd wanted to show her that he could do something that _was_ for once. He didn't shower her with gifts and cheesy lines and she never minded that; it was the least he could do to actually pull off something that she couldn't top with her imagination.

Still, he couldn't actually search the entire estate. He'd be searching the for the rest of his life. Literally. And that would be true because the land was so massive that he'd forget where he'd already searched and start combing through those places again.

In the end, Gray decided it was hopeless. He didn't want to spend the rest of his night looking for a dumb, beautiful ring that had walked off by itself. Besides, the reception dinner was going to start soon, and as one of the groomsmen, it would be pretty obvious if he wasn't there. Natsu would probably come looking for him and they'd get into a fight when today's only rule expressed by one temperamental celestial spirit mage was "no fighting". Said rule was also enforced by Erza and Gray wanted _no part_ in that.

Walking back, he found Gajeel and Levy in some sort of altercation by the front door. Gajeel had been another groomsman, standing next to Gray during the ceremony, while Levy had been the matron of honour. She was showing in her dress, probably about fourteen weeks pregnant, if the ice mage remembered correctly, but even in her state, she looked downright fierce arguing with her husband. Gajeel looked like he was being more stubborn than anything, and Gray tried to pass them inconspicuously. He figured he also wanted no part in _this._

"Gray!"

...but it seemed like they had other plans.

The short and pregnant woman took Gajeel by the hand and dragged him over to where Gray had stopped in his tracks. Gray stared forlornly at the door. So close and yet so far...

He turned and raised a hand in greeting, silently begging the spirit of their first guild master to somehow get Levy to leave him out of the fight between her and her husband. It was never a good idea to get involved in the affairs of your married friends. Never.

"Gajeel has something of yours," Levy stated in a matter-of-factly manner, placing her hand on her hips and glaring at her much taller husband.

"I'm not giving it back!" Gajeel hissed as he crossed his arms obstinately.

"Wait, you have something of mine? What?" the ice mage asked, his curiosity now piqued.

"_Gajeel..._" the solid script mage said menacingly with a glare that could wither small plants. "You know what you took, so give it back to him!"

"I don't wanna!" Gajeel shouted back, sulking, and Gray almost choked at how unnatural the expression on the other male's face was. He didn't experience fights between the two of them very often and he was starting to feel very hopeful that things stay that way.

"Gajeel Redfox, you are going to be a father soon and you are acting like a child!"

"I don't care! I'm not gonna give this bastard back his dumb ring!"

Gray reeled, glancing at Gajeel in disbelief. "_You_ have my ring? What the hell!" The statement triggered a memory that seemed so insignificant when it happened that it only surfaced now when things were starting to make sense. Gajeel had come up onto the alter right after him and walked into his side, which was innocent enough to be an accident, but now was very clearly an intentional action done for the sole purpose of stealing.

"...should be more careful about checking your pockets," the dragon slayer muttered angrily under his breath.

"How'd you even know I had it?" Gray questioned him furiously.

"You put three ring boxes in your pockets when we were changing earlier!" Gajeel retorted, equally as irate. "You think I'm stupid? That I didn't see it? Well, I saw it. I know what it means and I won't allow it."

The fact that Gajeel had stolen his ring immediately flew out of his head, only catching one part of the tirade. "_You_ won't allow it? You're not one of her damn parents!"

"No, I'm not! She's my be—"

"_Gajeel,_" Levy cut in sharply. "Give him back his ring right now."

Her husband clenched his jaw. "No. He didn't get permission."

"_Gaj—_"

"It's fine, Levy," Gray interjected, seething and glaring at the other man. "You go ahead and hold on to that ring. I'll buy as many as I have to, because I don't need your permission. There's only one person whose permission I need."

He stalked off violently into the mansion, not even caring that three months worth of work was sitting in Gajeel's pocket and not his own. His plans for the night were ruined already anyway. And while Gray understood that Gajeel was Juvia's best friend, it didn't give him the right to control what happened between her and Gray. He was not trying to steal Gajeel's best friend away, no matter what the guy thought. He probably thought he was protecting her, but the night that was supposed to be perfect was no longer perfect and Gray was angry that Juvia was being deprived of that. Damn it. Damn unreliable best friends.

He didn't know what was going to happen tonight anymore, but there was definitely one thing he was sure of: he needed a drink.

* * *

><p>Juvia loved weddings. After all, how could she not when love was the single most beautiful thing in existence? Well, after her Gray-sama, of course. But she just felt so great at an event where two people were declaring their love for each other and vowing to fight for each other for the rest of their lives. She had cried during the ceremony, unable to contain her emotions for her two friends. It was such a long time coming, and it made her laugh now about how upset she had been with both of them when she thought they'd both had feelings for Gray. It was silly, and she knew better now.<p>

The reception had gone smoothly as well, and now dancing of the classier variety, which people probably doubted the guild was incapable of, was in full effect. Levy had offered a beautiful toast while Happy had spoken of how Natsu was like a father to him, voice cracking when he mentioned how glad he was that Natsu had found another best friend, even if she was really weird. It was all very touching and Juvia was pretty sure she hadn't cried that much in a long time.

Beside her, Gray was a little tipsy and she couldn't figure out why. He wasn't normally a heavy drinker although he did have the odd one when things were really not going his way. He wasn't drinking anything worse than champagne, but he'd definitely had a lot of more than he normally would by this time. He was pretty good not to overdo it, but Juvia could still tell something was wrong. Gajeel, too, was acting oddly, frequently glaring in their direction. It had to have been something of a fight, she supposed, because even when the guys in Fairy Tail were beating the snot out of each other, they had no real issues with one another.

She decided that for now, she would ignore them. They were men and they could sort things out for themselves, especially considering they'd probably had a spat over something stupid. It was a touch annoying whenever it was her best friend versus her boyfriend, but she wasn't going to get in the middle of it. The only thing she would focus on was having a good time today.

Juvia watched as Natsu and Lucy had their first dance as a married pair. She knew her friends well enough to know that Natsu wasn't exactly fond of dancing, but he seemed happy enough to be doing it for Lucy. She couldn't even imagine how Lucy felt right now. The celestial spirit mage was beaming, looking like a princess in her dress, and Juvia had no doubt that Lucy probably felt like she was in a dream. Her friends and family around her, old attendants making sure her night went smoothly, and dancing in the ballroom of her old mansion. Juvia wondered if her wedding would ever be as perfect.

The song ended and she smiled lightly as Natsu dipped his bride slightly, pretending for a moment that he dropped her with a stupid grin on his face. As soon as Lucy was steadied by her husband, she whacked him on the head, also grinning. People were laughing, but everyone knew this was just the way they were. They were so natural together...it probably wouldn't even matter if they hadn't been able to rent the estate.

And then Juvia knew that her wedding would be just as perfect as long as the man standing in front of her at the altar was Gray Fullbuster.

Giggling softly as she ate a piece of the wedding cake, she noted that with Gray's personality, he really wouldn't care what kind of wedding they had as long as it wasn't extravagant and over the top. He'd just show up and not even give a second thought to whether or not the flowers matched the wedding theme. The only thing he'd remotely give a damn about was whether or not the food tasted good, and that was only if they _had_ to have a wedding. Knowing Gray, he would probably prefer to run off and elope, but he would do what made her happy and so they would have a wedding.

Yes, there would be a wedding, but not right now so she had to enjoy this one.

"Shall we join them, Gray-kun?" Juvia asked, nudging her boyfriend as she gestured to the happily married newlyweds in the middle of the ballroom.

He glanced once at Gajeel before taking her hand and standing up. "Sure."

Following him quietly, Juvia marvelled at how much things had changed over the years. She'd certainly calmed down when it came to affairs of the heart, and Gray was particularly clingy some days (which he would never, _ever_ admit, so she learned not to make any comments about it aloud). Of course, being together for almost four years now, she knew they were bound to rub off on each other somehow.

His hand slid onto the side of her waist as they moved into the dancing area. He led her easily into slow movements, Alzack and Bisca dancing a few feet away from them. Swaying against him, Juvia never took her contact with him for granted. She always remembered how much heart she had put into holding on to him for all those years, and she couldn't afford to let a second that she spent with him slip away. After all the years they had been together, she liked to think that they would last after all this time. She would cherish him and he would cherish her.

...Except even though they were dancing, he was making that task awfully difficult. Gray wasn't paying any attention to her, and although that might not faze her at all usually, it was rather annoying when he was supposed to be dancing with _her_ and not glaring at Gajeel. Really, she didn't want to care and she understood that he wasn't always going to be focused on her, but this, she could not stand for.

"Gray-kun, Juvia is over _here_," she huffed, blowing a breathe at the side of his face when he still didn't turn around.

"H-huh? What?" He blinked at her.

Juvia sighed, taking her hand off his shoulder to place it on his cheek. "You and Gajeel-kun look like you want to kill each other. Why?"

Gray looked irritated as her hand fell back onto his shoulder. "It's fine. It's between me and him. I didn't mean to let it distract me," he told her before he leaned over to place his forehead against hers briefly in apology. "Sorry."

"I'm not angry," the water mage clarified as they danced around a strangely elegant Elfman with Evergreen. "But...it's a nice night, and maybe it's selfish, but I just want you to stay with me."

"I can do that," he murmured, his lips against the side of her head. He rather liked it when Juvia was thinking about herself rather than anyone else. "You should probably know...I really like that dress on you."

"Thank you," Juvia accepted the compliment, a smile flitting across her lips.

"I'd still prefer to take it off you, though."

"Gray-sama!"

He chuckled and she pouted at him, blushing. As much time as she had spent with Gray, it still caught her off-guard whenever he so openly flirted with her. Of course, the alcohol seemed to have loosened his lips a little. Still, Juvia was so used to being the aggressive one that she never really expected to be chased by him in turn. Of course, that wasn't to say she didn't enjoy it. The moments were rare and they always bumped up her heart rate a bit.

"Maybe...when we get home tonight..." she spoke quietly, face burning. Trying to prevent her mind from wandering into dangerous areas for the remainder of the night, Juvia quickly tried to think of other things to talk about. They were quite a long way from home. Needless to say, she hardly wanted to deal with any sort of...desperate urges...before they got there. Repressing those feelings was successful, but only at the cost of her concentration.

The water mage took a step back at the same time Gray did in his lead, but the arm he had on her waist stopped her from distancing herself too much. It was a little clumsy, causing her to laugh at herself with the ice mage grinning along with her.

"Ah, Gray-kun, have you seen the view from the balcony yet?" she asked him, gesturing to the grand doors across the room that were peeking through the curtains. Dancing was nice, but so was being alone with her Gray-sama. Besides, it really was beautiful out there, and the very loud romantic in her was screaming at her to bring him there. She didn't do a lot of fantasizing these days, but she still couldn't just pass up a chance to explore a romantic location.

He shrugged and let her excitedly drag him towards the balcony. Pushing through the doors, she let go of him and rushed to the edge of the balcony, looking over the railing and everywhere else she could possibly look. The fields and fields of healthy green grass were lit by lamps along the pathways leading to the house and the sky was clear. Juvia looked up and her eyes were full of starlight.

She...was so happy. Today was a day of love and the world was smiling down upon all of them. The world was blessing Natsu and Lucy's day. There was so much love everywhere, and as a person who was defined by love, she couldn't help but just burst with happiness.

"It's so beautiful..." Juvia stated breathlessly, clutching the railing just to remind herself that this was real. She turned back to look at Gray, his mouth just slightly upturned at the corners. He hadn't followed her all too closely across the massive balcony and was still standing a few paces back, standing casually with hands in his pockets. She wasn't too surprised his reaction wasn't nearly as strong as hers. While he appreciated a good view, he didn't get emotional over that kind of thing—unlike her.

He couldn't feel it, like the whole world was staring down at them, celebrating all of them and their bonds today, but she did. She could feel it in her soul. Their love was being rewarded.

"Gray-kun, do you think Silver-sama can see us?" she asked, gazing back into the open sky. "Do you think he's watching and smiling with us?"

She waited for a reply, but turned around curiously when one never came. Instead, Gray was giving her a blank stare, eyes completely empty.

"Gray-kun?" Concern crept into her body and she really, really hoped she hadn't accidentally upset him by mentioning his father. He was just staring, unmoving, and Juvia was starting to get scared. "What's wrong?"

* * *

><p>There were only a few times in his life that he had experienced the world around him stopping. Most of them were life and death situations in which there was only a split second for him to do something or he might die. It was a moment of complete clarity, where time slowed to a crawl and nothing else existed except for him and whatever was standing in front of him.<p>

The moment she mentioned his father, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Gray hadn't expected it and it was slightly jarring to be experiencing it when nothing was about to kill him. He'd felt a chill throughout his entire body. Still, he didn't know if it was just because he was tipsy or if he'd inhaled some sort of summer night breeze drug, but time froze and all he could do was take in the scene in front of him.

Her hands were clutching the railings as she leaned over, as if she would be able to get closer to the sky just by doing so. The breeze picked up her hair and dress just a little, and the light from the ballroom hit her skin causing the shadows to fall in all the right places. She was beautiful, even without everything being magnified in this moment. She knew him too well, as evidenced by her sentimental mentioning of his father.

Yeah, maybe Silver was watching them right now because Gray could feel a million thoughts going through him and he barely registered what any of them were saying. His dad had to be the one making sure all the important ones were coming through. He didn't need Gajeel's permission. He didn't need a perfect moment or a perfect night. He didn't even need that ring he'd worked so hard to get.

"Gray-kun? What's wrong?"

Now she was looking at him with concern, with the same intensity and feeling she'd always had for him. He remembered how she willingly gave up her life for him, how much it had hurt. He remembered her standing her ground against him and how stupid he felt afterwards for not understanding. Things were different now. _He _was different now. He knew Juvia. He knew what he needed.

All he needed was her.

"Marry me," he said, snapping out of it, finally able to match her gaze.

"G-Gray-kun...?"

Juvia looked more shocked than anything, and Gray couldn't really blame her because the words out of his mouth probably seemed like they were coming out of nowhere, but they weren't. He had been thinking about this for a long time and maybe it wasn't planned out like he'd wanted it to be, but the universe had given him an opportunity and was taking it.

"Marry me," he repeated, voice steady and confident. That shiver down his spine...his dad was telling him to do it now. He _wanted_ to do it now. "Right here, right now."

"There...isn't anyone else here," she replied back in uncertainty, and Gray found himself reflecting on how years back, she probably would've jumped on his request without a second thought.

"It won't be official to anyone else. I know you want a real wedding," Gray stated as he strode forward to close the distance between them. "This is for me. Us. Marry me. Promise me you'll spend the rest of your life fighting for me, and I'll promise I'll spend the rest of my life fighting for you."

There was a short silence as she contemplated his words. There was never a question of whether or not they would be at each other's side because that was a given. They would stay friends no matter what the circumstances, but to never give up on this relationship, to never give up on loving each other; that was a promise.

Juvia gave him a shy, watery smile. "...Was there ever a question?"

He chuckled, putting his hand on the back of her head and pulling her into him. "Just say it."

"I promise," she said, her voice muffled against him.

"I promise too," he responded as moved back to gather her left hand in both of his. He might not have the one he'd chosen for her right now, but she still deserved one, especially since he was bringing this on her so abruptly. He pulled away a second later, a ring of ice gleaming on her finger. "There."

Juvia looked down at her hand, and then she started crying. Really, really crying.

"Gray-sama!" she wailed, covering her face with her hands. "You're not supposed to be romantic!"

"I can do whatever I want, _wifey_," Gray replied as he smiled at how emotional she was. Gently, he grasped her wrists and moved her hands from her face. "And right now, I'm going to kiss my bride."

He pressed a chaste kiss on her tear-streaked lips, then laughed quietly. "Sorry. It looks like I made it rain."

Juvia's wailing got louder as she shoved him and then hugged him, sobbing like the overemotional woman she was, and Gray let himself feel just a little bit proud for actually pulling something even remotely romantic off. Hopefully his dad had enjoyed the show.

He used to think things were difficult when it came to her, but he knew now more than ever that being with her was easy. And on the days where things got complicated, Gray was more than willing to work to overcome them. He'd promised, so had she, and that was all he needed to know. No more blaming himself for losses. No more distancing his heart. Letting her in had done more for him than running ever had and he was going to hold onto this with everything he had.

Together, they weren't invincible, but they were close enough.

* * *

><p><strong>The end. Thank you for reading!<strong>

**And in case you are wondering, yes, Gray eventually got his ring back. :)**


End file.
